The Early Years
by april-twinkle
Summary: MWPPL Wormtail will come in later on. Werewolfs, drunk teachers, green monsters, confessions, quidditch, pranks, life at Hogwarts was never more fun... lj pairing soon. [edited]
1. How it all began...

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Only Jo, Kat, Mary and the plot belong to me. So don't sue. (:

The Early Years

Lily Evans and her sister, Petunia, were in Lily's room playing a game of cards. Suddenly, a tawny owl flew through Lily's open window. Petunia started screaming as she ran out of the room. The tawny owl settled itself on Lily's shoulder and dropped a letter on her lap. Lily wasn't really surprised. It seemed that she had this affinity with owls. They kept flying around her. It was almost like she could communicate with them. Presently, the one on her shoulder was making soft cooing noises. Then, it flew off.

Lily picked up the envelope and on the front it said in green ink, Miss Lily Evans, 6 Avenue Lane, smallest bedroom.

She opened it up and as she read, her eyes grew wider, "Is someone pulling a prank on me?" wondered Lily.

It could be Sirius Black, Lily's new neighbour. He loved pulling pranks. It seemed to Lily that the end of the world was near when Sirius moved next door.

She read the letter again.

**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_**

Dear Miss Lily Evans,   
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts. Enclosed is a list of things you will need to buy if you wish to attend. There is also a set of directions to get you to Diagon Alley. It is in London, just look for a shop called the Leaky Cauldron. Then, you will know what to do.

_Minerva McGonagall_  
Deputy Headmistress

Lily handed the letter over to her parents. Petunia and her parents read it. An uncomfortable silence followed. Then, Petunia pointed her finger at Lily and shouted, "FREAK!!!" After that, she ran out of the room.

"Can I go, Daddy?" asked Lily, a little hurt at her sister's reaction.

"Well," Mr Evans said dazed, "We could go to London and check it out since we're to going there to visit Aunt May anyway."

The next morning, Lily was in London. Her parents were looking at the set of directions, studying it, pointed at several places before frowning. Lily sighed.

"Let me see it." Lily read it and then pointed to a shop, The Leaky Cauldron.

"There it is!" and saying so, she dragged her parents off.

"That's funny, I never noticed it before." Mrs. Evans wondered aloud, "I wished Petunia had come with us, she would have found this quite fascinating."

Lily, however, highly doubted that.

Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, greeted them warmly and when he found out they were muggles, kindly brought them to Diagon Alley. Before leaving, he advised them to change their money for wizard currency first. He pointed them towards Gringotts. Before long, Lily came out of Gringotts with money jiggling in her pockets. Her parents left her to do her own shopping and told her that they would come and fetch her three hours later.

A little lost, Lily walked into the nearest shop, Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, a short witch whom she presumed was Madam Malkin asked, "Hogwarts dear?"

Lily nodded her head in reply.

She started taking measurements and soon, Lily was out of Madam Malkin's with her purchases. She decided she would buy her schoolbooks next. An hour later, Lily was in the middle of Diagon Alley, unsure of what to do next.

"I've bought my books, robes, cauldron, quills," Lily muttered looking at her checklist, "Now, I need a wand."

The thought of a wand trilled her. She walked over to Ollivander's.

(A/N spelled it right?)

An old man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, "Hello, nice to meet you. Welcome to Ollivander's."

He took out lots of wands and asked Lily to pick one.

Lily picked one brown one. Ollivander asked her to wave it around. Lily waved it feeling a little stupid.

Ollivander took it away suddenly, "No, not this one," and gave her another one.

Lily waved this one too but Ollivander took it away again mumbling to himself.

After searching for awhile, he said, "Aha! Try this one," he produced a white wand.

"It's made of mahogany, 10 inches, good for charm work," he handed it to Lily and the moment she touched it, sparks flew out of the wand. Lily waved it around and more sparks flew out.

"It's the one," said Ollivander and wrapped it up for Lily.

------

Lily soon found herself at King's Cross station. She looked all around for Platform 9 ¾ but could not find it.

Later, she overheard a conversation between a mother and her son, "All you have to do is run into the ticket barrier between platform 9 and 10."

She watched as the son disappeared. One minute he was there, the next minute he was gone.

"Here goes nothing…" Lily thought as she ran straight for the barrier. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she saw a red train right in front of her.

After getting some help from some 3rd years boys (A/N Lily was pretty you know, who wouldn't help a damsel in distress?), she managed to get her trunk onto the train. She soon found herself an empty compartment and settled in.

Lily didn't have a book to read so she just stared out of the window, thinking about her predicament. Nothing had prepared her for this. Not the owls, not the fact that all the teachers that made her angry always found themselves breaking out in boils. Fine, so maybe she found that one a little suspicious.

All of a sudden, the door burst open and three boys stepped in. Lily realised immediately that one of them was Sirius Black, Lily's new neighbour.

Lily sighed, "Sirius? Oh crap." Lily had this sinking feeling her time at Hogwarts would not be a dull one.

She snapped back to reality when Sirius started shaking her hand up and down,

"Lily! Long time no see! Didn't know you were a witch!" said Sirius.

"Actually, it's been only a day," replied Lily. Her response earned a few sniggers from Sirius two friends.

Sirius shot them a glare.

"Anyway, have you met my friends?" asked Sirius.

Before Lily could even answer, Sirius was already doing the introduction.

"The one who looks a little pale is Remus Lupin and the one with messy black hair is James Potter."

Suddenly, three girls walked in. One was talking rapidly the other 2 were rolling their eyes, obviously irritated with the one talking.

One of the girls said, "Look Mary, you can go back to your friends now."

Mary (the girl who was talking rapidly) replied, "But you haven't found an empty compartment yet. Let's keep walking, meanwhile, I can tell you about some of the cute boys I met on the way here."

"No thank you," the other girl said, "We would like to sit here."

"But you haven't asked if you could sit here."

"I don't mind really," said Lily coming to their rescue, "I'm sure the boys won't mind, would they?" Lily gave them a look that said they had better agree with her.

"We don't mind," said Sirius quickly.

Mary narrowed her eyes at Lily and then left the compartment sulking.

"Thanks for the help. By the way, I'm Joanna. That girl over there is Kathleen." Joanna said as she motioned to her friend.

Lily smiled, "I'm Lily, those three people over there are Sirius, James and Remus."

Jo (Joanna's nickname), Kat (Kathleen's nickname) and Lily started talking. Very soon, an announcement was heard, "We will be reaching Hogwarts soon. Will all students please change into your robes."

Lily, Jo and Kat got up, and were going to leave to change when Sirius asked, "Where are you all going?"

"To the toilet to change. Didn't you hear the announcement?" Jo asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course I did," replied Sirius, "But you're welcome to change with us."

Shouts of 'Perverts' could be heard from the compartment as Sirius, James and Remus were thrown out of the compartment.

"It's all your fault Sirius, if you didn't open your mouth, we wouldn't have been thrown out." said James glaring at Sirius.

"James' right," said Remus glaring at Sirius too.

"What did I do?" replied Sirius innocently.

"Oh, I give up," said Remus sighing.

After a little accident (Sirius, James and Remus had 'accidentally' pushed Lily, Jo and Kat into the lake), all the first years got to the castle safely.

"All first years follow me," said a very stern looking professor, "I'm Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, please line up in one straight line and when I call your name, please step forward and wear the hat. It will sort you into your house. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. In Hogwarts, you will spend your free time in your house common room." She said that while leading the first years into the great hall.

Lily saw five tables in the great hall. One for the teachers and one for each house.

The hat started singing a song and when it was done, everyone clapped. She didn't pay much attention to the sorting after Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor. She was looking at the ghosts of each house. All seemed friendly enough except the Slytherin ghost. He was covered in blood. The Bloody Baron they called him.

Then, 'Lily Evans'. Lily walked up to the sorting hat. She picked it up and put it on. The last thing she saw was James Potter sticking his tongue out at her, then all was black.

"So who do we have here? Oh! Lily Evans! I've been waiting long for you and your friend. I trust you know him already? _Who's he?_ Never mind, back to the sorting. Muggle-born, not Slytherin material, trustworthy, loyal, but I have a feeling your destiny's not in Hufflepuff. Smart, but I see bravery here. Definitely GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat shouted the last word to the hall. Lily walked over to the table that was clapping madly. Sirius gave her a high five but Lily was too absorbed in her own thoughts.

"What did the hat mean?"

She sat down next to Sirius and was brought back to earth when Sirius started shouting into her ear, "Congratulations Lily! You made it to Gryffindor! I thought would surely get into Slytherin."

Lily hit him on the head, hard.

"Ouch!"

'Joanna Streatfield' Lily crossed her fingers and hoped that Jo would get into Gryffindor. And as luck would have it, GRYFFINDOR!

"Yes!" Lily shouted and clapped along with the rest.

Then 'Remus Lupin'

Suddenly, Sirius stood on the table and shouted, "Give me a R, give me a E, give me a M, give me a U, give me a S! R-E-M-U-S! GO...... REMUS!"

"Do both of you know him?" asked a 4th year girl pointing to Sirius.

"No." replied Lily and Jo immediately.

In the line, Kat and James were shaking their heads.

Soon, it was James' turn. Sure enough, Sirius was standing on the table shouting, " Give me a J, give me an A, give me a M, give me a E, give me a S! J-A-M-E-S! GO...... James!"

The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, cast an amused look at Sirius. James put on the hat and the last thing he saw was Lily sticking her tongue out at him.

"Why hello James. Nice to meet you. Now, since I'm such in a good mood today, I'll let you choose where you want to go. _Sirius and Remus are in Gryffindor so I think I'll choose Gryffindor._ Alright, so be it. I just had a funny feeling you would choose GRYFFINDOR!

Lily screamed, "What I'm in the same house as him? Help!"

"Yes, Lily dear, I know you're excited," said Sirius while he was jumping up and down like a three year old.

"I'm not excited," Lily protested, "I'm just..."

"Delighted" said Sirius finishing her sentence for her.

"Sirius..." was all Lily could say.

James walked towards the Gryffindor table and plopped down next to Remus.

"Where's the food?" asked James.

"We don't have food until Dumbledore makes his opening speech," said a 3rd year.

"A speech? Oh dear, how long are we going to wait?" said a grumbling Sirus.

"You'll be surprised," came the reply.  
  
"Hello everyone, I trust you enjoyed your holidays. Welcome to and back to Hogwarts. I'm sure Professor McGonagall has briefed the first years on your houses and everything so I'll end my speech. A reminder that nobody should go wandering into the Forbidden Forest as it is, well, forbidden. We have also planted a whooping willow on the school grounds so please be extra careful. Thank you and enjoy your meal." said Professor Dumbledore.

As Dumbledore said the last few words, food suddenly appeared on the empty plates.

"Hurray!" shouted Sirius and he proceeded to shove food down his throat.

Lily, Jo and Kat (she had been sorted into Gryffindor) looked on in disgust.

------

Ok, that's the end of the first chapter! How was it? I kinda edited the whole thing again. I thought there was too many chapters and those chapters were too short. So, I combined two chapters into one! Yay! So anyway, if you like it, review! Oh yes, to clarify one thing, Wormtail is going to come in during the later chapters. So don't need to ask about him ok? Thanks!


	2. Quidditch Try-Outs

The Early Years

Recap:

As Dumbledore said the last few words, food suddenly appeared on the empty plates.

"Hurray!" shouted Sirius and he proceeded to shove food down his throat.

Lily, Jo and Kat (she had been sorted into Gryffindor) look on in disgust.

------

_Many Months Later..._

Lily, Jo and Kat were in the common room doing their homework.

"I give up!" Jo said, "Sly (Professor Slyer actually but the girls and the Marauders call him sly) couldn't just give Gryffindors a longer essay than the Slytherins! I mean, we have potions with them. We should have the same amount of homework!"

"We know, we know," said Kat, "but if we don't hand up this essay, Sly would take the chance to deduct a whole lot of points from Gryffindor."

"Kat's right. James and the gang lose an average of 100 points every potions lesson. We can't afford to lose more." Lily said sipping her fruit juice.

Just then, some third year girls climbed through the portrait hole.  
"Did you see him fly? He was fabulous! Plus he's good-looking too. Pity he's younger than us."

Lily, Jo and Kat looked at each other and wondered who the third year girls were talking about.

"Oy! Who are you all talking about?" asked Jo.

"James Potter. Isn't he wonderful?" said one of them, a dreamy expression on her face.

Lily spat out her juice. "You... think... James Potter... is wonderful?" she managed to stutter.

"Isn't he?" said another third year girl.

Lily fell of her chair.

"The rest of the Marauders are cute too," said another girl.

Jo and Kat fell off their chairs.

Just then, the Marauders came into the common room. Immediately, the third year girls were in front of them saying, " Hi James, hi Sirius, hi Remus." as they batted their eyelashes.

The girls blinked a few times and then grinned. There were lots of things to tease the Marauders about now. Suddenly, Remus noticed the girls on the floor rubbing their knees. He pushed through the third year girls and walked over to Kat.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he offered Kat his hand.

"Yeah, I guess." replied Kat

Lily and Jo shared a grin.

Remus pulled Kat off the floor and asked again, "Are you sure you're alright?"

This time, James and Sirius shared a grin.

Meanwhile, the third year girls were shooting glares at Kat. Sirius and James walked over to Lily and Jo and pulled them off the floor too. Now, the third year girls were shooting glares at Lily, Jo and Kat.

"Why are you three on the floor with injured knees?" asked Sirius.

"It's a long story," replied Jo.

The third year girls seeing that the Marauders weren't paying any attention to them, walked away.

Lily watched them go and then recounted what happened.  
  
_After awhile..._

"You mean you don't think I'm wonderful?" James asked Lily with a 'hurt' expression.

"Yep!" replied Lily cheerfully.

Lily ducked a pillow sent her way by James.

"Ha! You missed!" shouted Lily.

"Not this time!" replied James as he ran towards Lily and tickled her

"Ah! Go away!" said Lily as she ran all around the common room with James right behind her.

"I bet 1000 galleons that James and Lily would get together," whispered Sirius to Jo.

Jo nodded her head, "Me too"

------

"Ooh! I'm so excited! The quidditch try-outs is tomorrow," said Mary (remember her?).

Time flew and it had already been a year since Lily set her eyes on the Hogwarts castle.

"You mean you're trying out?" asked Lily

"Oh no, but I'll be able to see the Marauders on brooms! I mean, did you see them fly? Especially James Potter? He's just wonderful!" Mary shouted the last part to no one in particular.

Lily pretended to puke.

------

"Is it true that you three are trying out for quidditch?" asked Lily when she saw the infamous Marauders in the common room.

"Yep. Why?" replied Remus

"Oh, nothing, I just needed to confirm some very publicized rumours."

On the day of the quidditch try-outs, the quidditch pitch was packed with girls who were there to see the Marauders and boys to see if the Marauders really flew well. Hey, what can I say? News spreads around fast. Lily, Jo and Kat were practically dragged to the field by Mary and their roommates. They did put up a fight but oh well, back to the story.

It turned out that James and Remus were trying for chaser and Sirius for beater ("typical" Jo said). The girls had to agree that the Marauders fly well. Remus was the first to spot the girls, after all, he was looking for Kat.

"There's Kat, I mean, the girls," said Remus blushing slightly.

"Where? Where?" said James. Actually he already spotted them. It was easy enough to spot a trio of attractive girls, wait, did he just call Lily Evans attractive?

His thoughts were interrupted by Sirius.

"There you dummy. It's quite easy to spot a red head shouting 'I hate James Potter', loudly." replied Sirius with a grin.

"I see them already, I'm not a dummy and Sirius, wipe that grin off your face," said James.

"Let's go say hello!" suggested Remus

"'kay!" said Sirius bouncing on his broom (I don't know how he does that but, he's Sirius!)

The Marauders waved to the girls and immediately, all the females present on the quidditch pitch glared at the girls.

"Told you it wasn't a good idea," said Lily shrieking a little.

You never know what a jealous, angry mob of young teenage girls might do.

"I suggest we run," said Kat.

"Good idea," replied Jo, she turned around and started running, "What are you two waiting for? Graduation? RUN!!!"

Lily, Jo and Kat turned and ran from the angry mob of girls. To make matters worse, the Marauders chose that time to drop in to take the girls on a ride on their brooms.

"Hi Jo! Hi Lily! Hi Kat!" said Sirius

"Go away!" shouted the girls, running away.

"Huh? Why?" asked Remus

"I have a feeling we're going to find out," said James

A whole mob of angry, jealous girls ran after them but not after smiling of giggling at the Marauders.

"They're jealous!" said Sirius

"Brilliant observation," answered James sarcastically.

"Poor Kat... and Jo and Lily" said Remus blushing a little again.

"So... we leave them alone?" asked Sirius

"No, we pester them even more," said James with an evil grin.

------

_The Next Day..._

"Hello Lily dearest!" said James bouncing into the Great Hall.

The whole female population (besides the teachers) turned to glare at Lily. James grinned. Lily panicked.

She retorted, "Shut up Potter!"

Maybe that will appeased some people. Luckily for Lily, some of the females turned back to their food satisfied that Lily would want nothing to do with oh so wonderful James Potter but for other die-hard James Potter fans, it's a different story.

On the way to charms that day, Lily, Jo and Kat were stopped by a 4th year Slytherin girl.

"I want to challenge you to a duel,"

"Huh? What for?" asked Lily

"James Potter!" the Slytherin shouted (Yes, even Slytherins like James Potter) and cursed Lily.

Lily blocked it easily and shouted back, "I do not like James Potter, in fact, I HATE him!"

The Marauders walked past just in time to hear Lily shouting, " I HATE James Potter!"

"She hates me? But why? Wait a minute, why do I even care?" thought James.

Lily spotted the Marauders from the corner of her eye and shouted, "There he is! He's all yours!" and saying so, she dodge a few spells and pushed the Slytherin towards James.

Then, she ran towards the Charms classroom with Kat and Jo in tow while James was trying to free himself from the grasps of the Slytherin.

"Sirius, Remus, HELP!" he pleaded his friends.

They, however, were rolling on the floor laughing like lunatics. Finally, James freed himself and ran full speed all the way towards the charms classroom.

------

"Hurray! Its the last day of the final examinations!" shouted Jo as the girls walked into the great hall.

"Only History of Magic left," said Kat.

"BORING!" Lily said with a yawn

(Fast forward to the test)

The Marauders and the girls were done hours ago but Professor Binns said that he would only collect the paper at the end of the test. Lily couldn't help but wonder why someone would need 3 hours for a paper you only need 30 minutes to do.

Okay, so maybe only the Marauders and the girls needed 30 minutes but it's not like everyone else didn't study... Lily began to fold paper planes. She threw it and... bull's eye! It got nicely caught in James Potter's unruly hair.

James felt as though something was stuck in his hair. He tried to comb it with his hands, only to find a paper plane in his hair. He wondered who could have done it. Not Sirius, he's staring at Jo for some strange reason. There could only be one person, he turned to look at Lily. She was grinning at him and on her desks were a few paper planes.

Finally, the bell rang.

"YIPPEE!!! It's finally over!" shouted Jo.

Everyone was in good spirits. Remus, however, didn't say anything. He went straight back to the common room and to his dorm.

"What's up with him?" asked Sirius

"How are we suppose to know? You're his good friend right?" replied Lily.

"Well, did anything happen today? Or maybe, is anything special going to happen today?" asked James.

The gang looked around and shrugged. Just then, a bunch of 4th years walked past, discussing the astronomy questions.

"Argh! I should have realised tonight would be a full moon! Darn! I lost marks because of that one!"

Suddenly, Lily and James realised something. They looked at each other and James asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking," replied Lily.

Lily and James turned to Sirius, Jo and Kat who were looking really puzzled.

"We have a serious problem on our hands," both of them said.

"Huh? But I didn't give you any problems today, did I?" asked Sirius looking thoughtful, "Of course, I did put beetles in James cornflakes, turned Lily's hair green..." and started listing down all the things he did to James and Lily.

"No, no Sirius, I mean serious as in S-E-R-I-O-U-S," said Lily getting a little annoyed.

"Oh," he said a little sheepishly

"Let's talk outside," said James

------

"You tell them."

"No, you tell them."

"_No_, you tell them."

"Oh, alright, I'll say," said James after looking at the looks on Sirius', Jo's and Kat's faces.

"Well, Haven't you people realise that Remus always absent himself once every month?" asked James.

"Yeah…" answered Sirius and Jo.

Kat was looking thoughtful.

"And he's always absent around the full moon, isn't he?" continued Lily.

"So what are you trying to say? That our mild-mannered Remus is a werewolf?" asked Sirius jokingly.

But looking at the looks on his friend's faces, he realised something, "You don't mean…"

------

"Erm, guys, I, erm, got to go home, my uncle just died," said Remus a little nervously.

"Okay, bye!" replied the girls and the Marauders, a little too cheerfully.

Remus was taken aback by their answer because they always ask him a lot of questions before letting him go or giving him the 'stamp of approval' as Remus calls it. Besides, they weren't sounding sympathetic at all.

"Yah, erm, bye" said Remus as he walked out of the common room.

The girls, James and Sirius watched him go.

"Now what?" asked Kat.

------

Tada! Another chapter done. is proud of herself Anyway, review please! Reviews are very much appreciated. (:


	3. Confessions and Pranks

The Early Years

Recap:

"Yah, erm, bye" said Remus as he walked out of the common room.   
  
The girls, James and Sirius watched him go.  
  
"Now what?" asked Kat

------

"Well, I remembered seeing Remus walking towards the forbidden forest on the day he was suppose to have 'detention'. Come to think of it now, he could have been walking towards the whopping willow instead," said Jo.

"Wait, what if we're wrong? What if Remus' uncle really just died? Don't you think we were a little too cheerful?" Kat asked worried.

"Don't be silly. Remus doesn't have an uncle. He told us his parents didn't have any siblings. That's why he didn't have any cousins to play with! Remember?" James said.

"The whopping willow, whopping willow, hey! Wasn't the whopping willow planted last year? The year we came to Hogwarts?" asked Sirius, completely ignoring everyone else.

"Yeah! You're right!" replied James.

Sirius bowed.

"For once," said Jo very softly but loud enough for Sirius to hear.

"What was that?" asked Sirius getting ready to tickle Jo.

"Erm…" Jo said nervously. She was getting ready to run.

She was saved by Lily who said, "Back to the matter on hand, is Remus a werewolf?"

Immediately, Sirius began thinking. Jo couldn't help but smile. Sirius thinking, imagine that.

"Well," said James putting up his hand.

"Yes James?" asked Lily.

"Well, if Remus is really a werewolf, then he definitely would need some place for his transformation so maybe he uses the whopping willow or something," said James

"Possi," before Lily could finish, Kat shouted, "Look! It's Remus!" and pointed to the window.

Everyone crowded round the window. Jo was right. Remus was walking towards the whopping willow.

"Well, at least we know now that Remus is keeping something from us," said Lily.

"There's a very huge possibility that Remus is a werewolf right?" asked James.

Everyone nodded.

"But that doesn't mean that we shun him right?" asked James

"Right."

"It doesn't mean he won't and can't be our friend anymore right?"

"Right."

"It doesn't mean that Kat would like him any less right?"

"Right." Kat said absentmindedly

Looking at the expressions on her friend's faces, Kat suddenly realised her mistake.

"No! I mean, I don't even like Remus!" Kat protested.

"You admitted it!" said Sirius grinning evilly.

Kat gave Lily, Jo, Sirius and James the death glare. Kat seldom stares but when she does, no one wants to be in her way.

"Erm, Sirius and I are really sleepy, aren't we pal?" said James nervously.

"Erm, yeah, um, let's go to sleep," said Sirius faking a yawn.

They proceeded to run up to the boys' dormitories.

"Well, eh, you need help on your charms homework right Jo? I can help you now," said Lily hoping Jo would catch on.

"Huh? Oh yah, yeah, I need help on this _really_ difficult question," replied Jo.

Jo and Lily hurried over to a dark corner to do the 'question'.

------

The next morning, the girls, Sirius and James confronted a sleepy looking Remus.

"You were at the whopping willow yesterday weren't you?" asked James.

Remus had actually wanted to deny it but upon seeing the determined looks on his friends faces, he sighed then said, "Yes, I was. So I guess you somehow figured out that I was a werewolf right?"

His friends nodded their heads.

"I knew I couldn't keep it from you all for any longer."

He proceeded to tell them how he got bitten and how difficult it was to get accepted into Hogwarts.

"… So that's basically what happened,"

"Why didn't you tells us in the first place?" asked Jo

"I thought you all would stop being my friends," replied Remus.

"Nonsense! Last night we were discussing about this and Kat even…" Sirius was silenced by a glare from Kat, "Nothing…"

Remus smiled.

------

"Wake up you sleepy-head,"

Lily was awaken rather rudely (in her opinion) by Kat.

"Huh? What?" Lily asked half asleep

"Obviously Lily here isn't much awake," said Jo.

"That was really helpful," muttered Kat.

"Well, you would be after sleeping so late at night," replied Lily, rather annoyed at her friend.

"And for what reason did you sleep so late at night?" inquired Kat.

"Detention," said Lily flatly.

Both Kat and Jo nodded knowingly (Sly had given Lily detention for talking loudly in class).

"Anyway, it's time for BREAKFAST!" shouted Jo.

"I know, you didn't have to announce it to the whole world," said Lily, now very annoyed at her friend.

"Honestly Jo, you spend too much time with Sirius. You are beginning to talk like him," said Kat.

"But I'm hungry!" protested Jo.

"Yup, she definitely is spending too much time with Sirius, she's even beginning to have Sirius' appetite!" exclaimed Lily who, had by now, changed.

"Quit talking, let's go have breakfast!" said Jo dragging Lily and Kat to the great hall.

The girls were seated opposite the Marauders and they were laughing about something.

"What's so funny?" asked Lily

"Nothing…" replied Sirius still laughing

The girls shrugged and continued eating breakfast. They were just having an argument about which teacher was the strictest ("I tell you it's Sly," "No, it's McGonagall, Sly is only strict when it comes to Gryffindors,") when suddenly a scream could be heard. The girls looked up from the conversation and saw a green monster. It had 4 arms, 3 legs, 5 heads and 7 eyes. Worse, it had Snape's greasy hair… ("EW!!!") The green monster was advancing towards the Gryffindor table. Everyone was running away. The Marauders, however, were laughing and laughing and laughing.

"Is that you, Snape?" asked Kat holding back laughter. Lily and Jo had already burst out laughing.

"dkf;akldjfeiow35-454896nmvklskja[io3u9u#$&%Jkajid (translation: I'll get you for these Potter!)" said Snape.

"What was that again? Alien language?" asked Sirius unable to control himself.

Professor McGonagall was already walking or rather, storming towards the girls and Marauders.

"Who did this? Own up. NOW!" Professor McGonagall screamed, literally shaking with rage.

"It was us Professor, we were just trying to celebrate seeing that the examinations are over," answered James casually.

"Celebrate? By turning a fellow student into a, a green monster?" Professor McGonagall lost her cool.

"I don't consider Snape a fellow student though," whispered Lily to Jo.

"DETENTION! And 50 points off Gryffindor!" shouted Professor McGonagall. ("Told you it was McGonagall,")

The Marauders were past caring; they were laughing and pointing at Snape a.k.a. the green monster.

------

The great hall was noisy, as usual, but it seemed noisier than usual (Am I making any sense?).

Kat asked Remus what was all the excitement about. Everyone seemed to be discussing quidditch.

"While, actually, the first quidditch match of the season is next week!" said Remus.

"And we're on the team of course," added Sirius referring to James, Remus and himself.

"Oh, who's the commenter anyway?" asked Lily.

"I don't think anyone has offered to be yet, Minny (James was referring to Professor McGonagall's new nickname.) will probably choose that person I guess," replied James.

"You don't say…" said Jo with an evil grin similar to Sirius'.

Lily shivered at that thought, "This is so not happening."  
  
_The next afternoon_…

"YOU WHAT?!"

Lily's shout could be heard all over Hogwarts. Jo could only grin.

"I asked Minny if I could do the commentary for the quidditch match," said Jo grinning a little.

"Either Minny has finally gone over the edge or she must have been drinking too much butterbeer when you asked her," said Kat, a little amused.

"Still, I'm doing the commentary and both of you are doing it with me," said Jo. She was obviously out of her mind.

"WHAT?!" both Lily and Kat screamed.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun anyway, Minny won't let me do the commentary if someone 'responsible' is not with me,"

"And who's this 'responsible' one?" asked Lily with an eyebrow raised.

"Why, Kat of course," said Jo sounding a little too surprised.

"Me?" asked Katpointing to herself, "the 'responsible' one? You have got to be kidding,"

"So," said Jo a little impatient now, "Are you going to do it with me or not?"

Lily and Kat looked at each other.

"Oh alright, I'll do it only if I can hurl insults at James Potter," said Lily grinning wickedly, rubbing her hands together.

"So what do I do?" asked Kat.

"Well, you could comment on the weather or on how wonderful Remus was looking that day," said Jo.

Kat promptly tackled Jo.

------

On the day of the quidditch match (By the way, it's Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw) the Marauders were too nervous to eat.

"Come on Sirius, just a teeny little bite?" said Jo trying to coax Sirius to eat breakfast, "You usually eat non-stop, why not today?"

"Because there is a quidditch match today!"

"All the more you should eat your food," Lily said as she shoved food down James' throat, "By the way James, I'm doing this for Gryffindor and not for you, you had better win this match..."

Kat following Lily's example, did the same to Remus.

"Erm, did anyone tell you that we three would be doing the commentary?" asked Lily casually.

"What? You three? I'm doomed, I'm doomed, I'm doomed," muttered James.

"Take it easy, Lily wants Gryffindor to win too right?" whispered Sirius to James.

James calmed down a little.

(Fast forward to the match)

A/N I'm doing this in script form so that it would be less complicated

Jo: Now we have the Ravenclaw team! Thomas, Brown, Peters, Ray, Crick, Julian and Willy! (Ravenclaw cheers)

Kat snatches megaphone away from Jo

Kat: Next, we have the Gryffindor Team! Davidson, Black, Blythe, Potter, Lupin, Slain and Hans. (Gryffindor cheers with the loudest for Sirius, James and Remus)

Jo snatches megaphone from Kat

Kat snatches it back

Jo snatches it back

Lily: Stop! Let me solve this (Lily says a little spell and two other megaphones appear out of nowhere). There!

Kat: Wonderful! Back to the match.

Jo: Wait a minute! Where's Minny?

Lily jerks her head towards a very drunk Professor McGonagall.

Kat: Who gave her butterbeer?

Lily: Who else? Yours truly.

Kat: Okay…

Jo: The game starts! (Referee blew the whistle) The quaffle is immediately taken by Potter of Gryffindor. He passes it to Lupin and he heads for the goal at an incredible speed. Dodges a few bludgers and does he scores? Yes!

Kat: Ten points to Gryffindor!

Lily: Yeah! The quaffle is taken by Slain of Gryffindor but oh, the quaffle is intercepted by Ravenclaw chaser, Brown! Quaffle is passed to fellow teammate, Crick! Does he scores? Yes!

Jo: Ten points to Ravenclaw!

The match proceeds until…

Kat: Ah! Remus behind you! (Remus turns back and saw a bludger coming straight at him. He ducks and it narrowly misses him)

Jo: Sirius, you idiot! You're a beater! Hit the bludger! ("I'm not an idiot!") Whatever!

Lily: Ravenclaw has the Quaffle! Gryffindor is currently leading. Will captain Julian be able to score?

Kat: No! It's a good save for Gryffindor keeper Hans!

(A bludger is hit by a Ravenclaw beater to James since he was the one making most of the goals.)

Lily: Potter! Don't duck! There's a bludger behind you! (James ducks) Hey! I told you not to duck!

Kat: Wait a minute, the Gryffindor seeker has spotted something, it's the golden snitch!

Jo: Will he get it? The Ravenclaw seeker has spotted it as well!

Lily: Catching…

Kat: Catching…

Jo: Caught! The snitch has been caught!

------

Ok, I know. James and Sirius only discovered Remus was a werewolf when they were in their third year but let's just ignore that little fact and pretend they found out in their second year ok? (: Oh yes, another thing. In the movie, James was a seeker but somehow, I remembered James was actually a chaser. Hmm.. oh well, let's ignore that little fact also. Haha. Another thing, REVIEW PLEASE! I am very desperate for reviews.


	4. Butterbeer, McGonagall and Reserch

The Early Years

Recap:

Lily: Catching…

Kat: Catching…

Jo: Caught! The snitch has been caught!

------

Jo: And… Gryffindor wins! It's 210-60!  
  
James could hear Jo happily announcing the results and could also see Lily and Kat doing a little dance.  
  
The girls ran down to the quidditch pitch and hugged the Marauders.  
  
"We did it! We did it!" they cried.  
  
"James Potter! We won!" shouted Lily hugging James.  
  
The girls were oblivious to the stares from the other females. It seemed the Marauders were too.

Just then, Lily realized that she was hugging her worst enemy (besides Snape of course) and immediately pulled back blushing a bit. When she saw that Kat and Jo were still hugging Remus and Sirius, she cleared her throat.  
  
"Ahem, Kat? Jo?"  
  
"Yeah?" they asked.  
  
"Do you realize who you're hugging?" Lily asked.  
  
"Well," they stopped in mid-sentence.  
  
They suddenly realized that they were going to be chased by an angry mob again.  
  
The girls all shouted, "HELP!" and ran off.  
  
The angry mob of girls proceeded to hex or throw shoes or any other thing they could lay their hands on at the girls.  
  
Although Lily, Jo and Kat were quite fit, they were soon tired out. The angry mob caught up with them and used their wands to shoot water at them (like a water gun).  
  
The Marauders seeing that the girls needed their help, rushed forward. By the time they reached the spot where the girls were, Lily, Jo and Kat were on the ground, covering their faces with their hands. The angry mob was still shooting water at them.  
  
"Stop it this instant!" shouted Remus getting angry.  
  
"Yeah! Why are you doing that for?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Apologize immediately!" exclaimed James.  
  
After some apologies, the crowd dispersed. The girls looked up at the Marauders. Their faces were dirty after falling down while running. Strands of their nicely tied hair fell over their faces. Still their faces wore a grin.  
  
"Exciting, don't you think?" asked Lily.  
  
"You all seem so… normal," said Remus a little unbelievably.  
  
The girls just shrugged.  
  
"I think you all should cast a blocking charm on yourselves," said Sirius looking a little worried.  
  
"Exactly, you could have drowned in all that water shot at you," said James.  
  
Lily blinked. Was James Potter worried about them?  
  
"Nah, after not eating any breakfast, James Potter isn't in a right state of mind, but then again, he was never in a right state of mind," thought Lily.

------

The Marauders and the girls were walking back to the common room after the quidditch match.  
  
"Did you see that bludger? It was really fierce but I managed to hit it back to the Ravenclaw team, the Ravenclaw beater I think he's called Ray? Anyway did you see that look on his face, he was so shocked!" said Sirius ranting all the way to the common room.  
  
"That reminds me, Potter," said Lily, "I clearly remember telling you NOT to duck,"  
  
"Well I couldn't very well NOT duck and let the bludger hit me," snapped James.  
  
"Well, " Lily snapped back, "…"  
  
She and James started quarrelling until James said, "I give up! Let's call a truce,"  
  
"Gladly, but we still can pull an occasional prank on each other right?" asked Lily.  
  
"Sure," replied James.  
  
They shook hands and Sirius and James followed suit. Kat and Remus were about to shake hands when Sirius said," Actually, you two don't have to do it 'coz both of you are on good enough terms already," giving Kat one of his famous 'I'm gonna tell him' looks (A/N refer to chapter 3, Confessions and Pranks, if you don't know what's Sirius thinking about)  
  
Kat replied with a 'don't you dare' look. Sirius' eyes twinkled and he returned with a 'watch me' look. Kat promptly gave him a 'I'm gonna give you a good thrashing' look.  
  
The battle of the stares or as James calls it continued for a few more minutes until a loud bang could be heard from the Gryffindor common room.

------

Everyone looked towards the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"What was that?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I don't know," Remus replied with a worried expression on his face.  
  
"Let's go see," suggested Jo.  
  
Everyone ran to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
When the gang stepped through the portrait hole, a shout could be heard, "The men of the hour are here!"  
  
"The men of the hour?" asked the girls with an eyebrow raised.  
  
The whole common room was packed with Gryffindors partying. They were celebrating. The bang the gang heard must have come from a firecracker.  
  
"Minny actually allowed us to do this?" asked Kat.  
  
"Actually, I have a feeling that they must have given her a little more butterbeer than she could handle," replied Lily.  
  
Suddenly, a few Gryffindor girls came out of nowhere and invited the Marauders to dance while glaring at the girls. The girls, deciding that it was a little dangerous, started to walk towards the girl dormitories while casting longing looks at the dance floor in the middle of the common room.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
The girls looked back. The Marauders were smiling at them.  
  
"Would you like to dance?" Remus asked Kat.  
  
"What happened to the other girls?"  
  
Remus jerked his head towards the far corner of the room. The other Gryffindor girls were sitting there sulking a little.  
  
Kat giggled, "Love to,"  
  
Remus led her to the dance floor.  
  
"May I have the pleasure?" asked Sirius offering Jo his hand. Lily realized that Sirius had a tinge of red in his cheeks.  
  
"Sure," Jo said, smiling.  
  
"That's funny, Sirius never blushes." Lily said, deep in thought.  
  
"Who never blushes?" asked James.  
  
"Nothing, nothing," Lily replied.  
  
Lily watched Sirius and Jo, walking towards the dance floor.  
  
"Guess I'm left with you red-head," said James.  
  
"Guess so, four eyes," Lily replied.  
  
Then, they both smiled.  
  
The Marauders and the girls started dancing, they didn't notice that the whole common room was watching them though.  
  
"Hey Remus, do you realize that Sirius and Jo are dancing right now?"  
  
"Yeah, and I can't believe my eyes, they're co-existing peacefully and look at the smiles on their faces."  
  
"James, does Sirius ever blush?"  
  
"No, I haven't seen him blush, yet,"  
  
"Well that's funny, I saw Sirius blush when he asked Jo for a dance,"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
"Eh, Sirius, are you blushing?" asked Jo.  
  
"Nope," said Sirius, "At least I hope not," he added under his breath.  
  
Suddenly, Professor McGonagall stormed into the common room, spoiling the quiet moment for the gang.  
  
Those who had been watching them whined, "Professor."  
  
"What? What?" asked the Marauders and the girls. (Clever as they were, the gang was quite dense when it came to these things.)  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" she boomed.  
  
Everyone in the common room went silent.  
  
Lily noticed that Professor McGonagall walked a little unsteadily.  
  
Sirius walked over to the Professor and said calmly, "Relax Minny, we were just having some fun,"  
  
"Fun? Fun? Get back to your dormitory this instant!" she bellowed.  
  
"Fine, no need to shout in my ear," said Sirius walking away.  
  
While Lily walked towards her dormitory, she thought she heard a sixth-year say, "Rats! Must have given McGonagall too little butterbeer,"

------

Kat had been thinking about Remus' uh, problem and decided that they could at least make life easier for him.  
  
A few days after the 'butterbeer' incident, Remus walked into the common room sleepily.  
  
"Tough night?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Yeah, especially." Remus looked to see if anyone was listening, "especially the transformation, that's painful,"  
  
Finally Kat decided to ask Remus, "Actually Remus, is there any way we could make life easier for you?" asked Kat.  
  
"You already have," came the reply.  
  
"Ooh, so mushy, I don't think I can stand it anymore," said Sirius, leaping at the chance to tease his favourite couple (okay, going- to- be couple).  
  
"I think Kat has a point there," said James ignoring Sirius comments.  
  
"Yeah, maybe there's a way to be with a werewolf without being bitten," said Lily.  
  
"Maybe we could keep a lookout for books concerning werewolves or something," supplied Jo helpfully.  
  
There was a moment of silence. Everyone look expectedly at Sirius.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're waiting Sirius,"  
  
"What?" asked a puzzled looking Sirius, "And do you know that I hate myself when all of you know something that I don't?"  
  
"Well, then you must really hate yourself 'coz you certainly don't know lots of things that we do," said Jo.  
  
Sirius glared at Jo.  
  
"Hold on, you haven't contributed anything yet, Sirius," said James.  
  
"Eh, maybe, just maybe, the old blockhead (Sirius was referring to the DADA teacher, he was somewhat like Lockheart), has something interesting to say," said Sirius hoping that he had help.  
  
"Yeah," everyone agreed.  
  
"Now where's Jo?" asked Sirius.  
  
But by then, smart little Jo had already run away to save herself from Sirius wrath.  
  
During Defense Against the Dark Arts the very next day, the old blockhead (surprisingly) had something interesting to say.  
  
"Werewolves are really vicious creatures. They will bite a human if they happen to see one. However, they do not bite any other kind of animal. So animals are pretty safe from werewolves,"  
  
On the way to Transfiguration that day, the gang was discussing quietly about what they just learnt in DADA.  
  
"If animals are safe from werewolves, then we must somehow change ourselves into animals," said James.  
  
"Listen guys, you don't have to do this," Remus said.  
  
"But we want to," replied Sirius.  
  
"Hey, I've read somewhere before that humans can change into animals, I think they're called Animagi or something," said Kat, "Wait, I think I got it right here," Kat pulled a book out of her bag and flipped the pages, "There! Animagus, it's suppose to be really hard to be able to change yourself into an animal and that's why the Ministry keeps tabs on those trying."  
  
"Oh well, let's think about this later, anyway, the old blockhead said that animals are safe from werewolves and if we can change ourselves into animals, then we could be with Remus without getting bitten!" said Jo cheerfully.  
  
"Maybe we should stop calling that blockhead, blockhead since he helped us with our little problem,"  
  
They looked at each other, "NAH!"

------

There! End of the chapter! I can't believe it! I finish typing it! Yay! Thank you to all reviewers! You all made me work faster! (: So more reviews please!


	5. Goldilocks Snape?

Disclaimer: Everything except the plot, Kat, Jo and Mary belongs to J.K Rowling.  
  
Recap:

"Oh well, let's think about this later, anyway, the old blockhead said that animals are safe from werewolves and if we can change ourselves into animals, then we could be with Remus without getting bitten!" said Jo cheerfully.

"Maybe we should stop calling that blockhead, blockhead since he helped us with our little problem,"

They looked at each other, "NAH!"

------

It was a sunny Monday morning; the girls and the Marauders were having a very uneventful Potions lesson. Until…  
  
"James Potter!" Lily's shriek was echoed all around the dungeon walls.  
  
James grinned and asked innocently, "Yes?"  
  
Lily's hair had suddenly turned purple, "My hair?"  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it?"  
  
"James Potter! Lily Evans!" Professor Slyer shouted, "DENTENTION! AND 40 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Snape smirked. James didn't like that and so a few minutes later…  
  
"I saw him Professor! It was Potter! He flew a fire cracker into my hair!" Snape's hair looked blacker than before and it stood on ends.  
  
"DOUBLE DENTENTION" cried Professor Slyer.  
  
"Well, I had to admit that Snape's hair never looked better, at least it wasn't greasy," admitted Lily after Potions that day.  
  
"Yeah, and with his hair standing on ends, he looked like James," said Jo grinning.  
  
"Jo, if I wasn't taught not to hit girls, you would be a pancake by now," said James hitting his first into his other hand.  
  
"Anyway, what made you think of flying a firecracker into Snape's hair?" asked peace-loving Remus, desperately trying to change the subject to avoid a fight.  
  
"Well, actually it was all thanks to Lily," said James smiling at Lily.  
  
Lily blushed, she wasn't used to being paid compliments by James, "Me?"  
  
"You remember the History of Magic test? The plane you flew into my hair? That sort of gave me inspiration. but then, I thought if I flew the plane into Snape's greasy hair, it'll just slide off so that's why I switched his hair gel for sticky goo which I bought from Zonkos," explained James.  
  
"But James, how did you know that Snape had applied the goo to his hair?"  
  
"Well, don't you remember?"  
  
_Flashback_  
  
James bumped into Snape at the entrance of the great hall. He took this chance to switch the hair gel for the goo. Then, when they were eating breakfast.  
  
"Hey Snape! Your hair's messy!" James shouted.  
  
Snape immediately took out his 'hair gel' and gelled his hair.  
  
_End Flashback_  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And I thought you were just being sarcastic," said Sirius.  
  
"Is that all the goo does?" Lily asked suddenly, "I mean, is it just sticky?"  
  
"Nope! That's the best part! The goo does funny things to any body part it comes in contact with," replied a grinning James.  
  
"So what would happen to Snape's hair?" asked Jo, curious.  
  
"I don't know,"  
  
"You don't know?" five people chorused.  
  
"Yeah, the label on the bottle says Surprise Goo," James said.  
  
"While, guess it'll be a surprise then," said Remus.  
  
"But nothing else happened! " cried Sirius.  
  
"The bottle said it would take effect only 24 hours later. You know, so that no one would think it was the goo!"

The gang nodded knowingly.

------

The next day at breakfast, the Marauders and the girls were hysterical. Snape's hair had become long, turned curly and Snape's hair colour had changed completely. It was golden! The funniest thing was that he didn't even realize it!  
  
"What?" he kept asking people.  
  
"My, my, Hogwarts own Goldilocks," laughed Lily, clutching her tummy.  
  
"What's Goldilocks?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Never mind,"  
  
Professor McGonagall stomped towards the Marauders and the girls. If she didn't have heart problems, she'll probably get one teaching them.  
  
"You six, Mr. Snape, detention," was all she managed to say.  
  
"I won't mind another 10 detentions to see that clueless look on Snape's face," whispered Remus to Kat.  
  
Kat could only laugh in reply.

------

_Last day of school  
_  
"Wah!!! It's the last day of school and I have to go home to my dreadful sister," sob Lily.  
  
"Don't worry, it will be over soon," Kat said trying to console her.  
  
"Yah, besides, we'll all send owls and maybe even visit!" said Jo with a twinkle in her eye. It always meant she was planning something. Lily was too busy whining to see it, but Kat did.  
  
"Here we go again," thought Kat.  
  
On the trip back, the Marauders and the girls occupied the old compartment; it had sort of become 'their' compartment. As usual, Snape and his cronies came to bug them.  
  
"Hi mudblood!"  
  
"Really Snape, can't you think of something new to insult me?" asked Lily.  
  
Just then, the food cart came and the girls and Marauders rushed towards it.  
  
"Greedy pigs," Snape muttered and decided to leave them alone.  
  
During the rest of the trip back, the group ate and talk. Finally, they neared King's Cross Station.  
  
"We're here!" announced Kat.  
  
"So soon?" asked Lily.  
  
"Don't worry Lil', we'll visit," said Jo.  
  
With that, the Marauders and the girls walk past the barrier, into the muggle world.  
  
During the holidays, Lily tried to avoid any confrontations with Petunia by locking herself up in her room. She was trapped in her own home. Then, one fateful day, there was a knock on the door and Mrs. Evans answered it.  
  
"Yes? Who are you looking for?"  
  
"Er, we're Lily's friends from school,"  
  
"Friends? School? Freedom!" Lily thought as she rushed to the door.  
  
However, her face fell when she saw whom her friends were.  
  
"What are you three doing here?" asked Lily.  
  
"You mean we're not welcomed?" asked Sirius already stepping into the house.  
  
"Yes, you three sort of invited yourselves here, how did you get my address anyway?" asked Lily with her hands on her hips.  
  
James and Remus walked in ignoring the pouting Lily.  
  
"We have our ways," replied Sirius, a smile playing on his lips.  
  
"I don't even want to know,"  
  
"What's this?" asked Sirius pointing to the television.  
  
"It's called a television," Lily sighed, it was going to be a long day.  
  
"Please boys, make yourself at home," said Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Don't mind if we do," replied James jumping on the couch.  
  
"Mum?"  
  
"Yes dear?"  
  
"You shouldn't have said that,"  
  
"Oh,"  
  
Lily was just teaching Sirius how to operate a television when she heard Remus scream, "Help! Lily!"  
  
She rushed to the hallway where she heard Remus voice came from... and doubled up laughing.  
  
"Petunia... get... of Remus," said Lily in between laughter.  
  
"Uh, uh, he's mine," Petunia said stubborn as ever.  
  
"I'm not yours," protested Remus.  
  
"Yeah, he's Kat's," Lily retorted.  
  
"Yeah, I mean no! I don't belong to anybody," Remus said, flushing.  
  
"Well, tell that Kat girl to leave _my_ Remus alone!" Petunia said still hugging Remus.  
  
Lily sighed and walked towards the living room to get help.  
  
"Lil' don't leave me!"  
  
"Guys, I think you should have figured by now that Remus needs help," Lily said to Sirius and James.  
  
Both have been listening to the conversation intently and by then were rolling on the floor laughing. Sirius had tears rolling down his face.  
  
"Excuse me, this is no laughing matter, Remus could be squashed under Petunia's weight!" exclaimed Lily trying to hold back laughter herself.  
  
"Okay, okay, we'll coming," said James and Sirius together with identical grins on their faces.  
  
Lily, James and Sirius proceeded to the hallway.  
  
"Now Petunia, get off Remus carefully, you don't want to hurt him do you?" asked James.  
  
"Okay, I'll get off him, I don't want to hurt little Remie here do I?" said Petunia slowly, getting up.  
  
Sirius started laughing, "Little Remie..."  
  
The moment he was free, Remus went to hide behind Lily.  
  
"Aw, Remie, don't run away," cooed Petunia  
  
"Now Petunia, I thought you hated us wizarding folk, why so interested in Remus all of a sudden?" asked James.  
  
"Well, I do make exceptions," said Petunia thoughtfully.  
  
"Petunia, please, stop bothering us, or I'll call Mum," Lily said.  
  
Petunia pouted and stomped up the stairs, making the whole house shake.  
  
"So Remie (it was obviously going to be Remus' new nickname), what did you do to make Petunia fall deeply in love with you in the first place?" asked Sirius in a dramatic voice.  
  
"Nothing! Nothing at all! I was just standing there, minding my own business when she came charging at me!" replied Remus a bit battered, after all, Petunia did just sat on top of him for 15 minutes.  
  
By then, Lily had already burst out laughing, unable to control herself any longer.  
  
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, "I'll get it!" shouted Lily as she ran towards the door. Before long, Lily came back with Kat and Jo.  
  
"Hi guys!"  
  
"Hi Jo, hi Kat," replied the Marauders.  
  
"Kat? Did I just hear someone say Kat?" asked Petunia as she rushed out of her room.  
  
Lily and the Marauders shook their heads furiously while Jo and Kat just stared blankly at her.  
  
"You! You're Kat aren't you?" asked Petunia pointing her finger at Jo.   
  
Jo shook her head, "Sorry, but I'm Jo,"

Petunia pointed to Kat, "You must be Kat then!"

Kat, sensing something was wrong, smiled nervously, "Erm, my name is Kathleen."  
  
Petunia narrowed her eyes, "One of you must be Kat, I think I'll guess, ennie, meenie, mynnie, mo, pin that Kat girl on the floor, when she's dead then I'll let her go, ennie, meenie, mynnie, mo!"  
  
Unfortunately for Kat, Petunia guessed correctly. She rushed towards Kat and started strangling her.  
  
"Kat! You okay?"  
  
"Help! Need air, breathe,"  
  
"Do you think that's counted as okay?"  
  
"Petunia, stop it!"  
  
"Mum, help! Petunia's about to kill someone!"  
  
During all that, Remus was trying frantically to free Kat from Petunia's grasps.  
  
Just then, help arrived, "Petunia, let Kat go," just 4 simple words but immediately Petunia let Kat go. Nobody in the Evans family dared defied Mrs. Evans.  
  
"Please Petunia, apologize to Kat, she is after all, our guest,"  
  
Petunia shuffled her feet and apologized. After that, she ran back to her room but not before glaring at Kat and smiling at Remus.  
  
"I'll never underestimate your mother again Lily," said Sirius.  
  
Meanwhile, Remus rushed over to Kat, pulling her up from the ground (She had collapsed to the ground in a heap when Petunia let go of her). Kat was breathing in quick short breaths.  
  
Finally she said, "Now, can anyone tell me why was Petunia trying to kill me?"  
  
"Erm, well…"  
  
Kat crossed her arms and tapped her feet impatiently, a sure sign that she was annoyed. Then Remus stepped forward and explained, "Actually, it was like this, I was looking at the paintings on Lily's wall when Petunia jumped on top of me...(at this, Kat smiled) then, I shouted for help, Lily came and asked Petunia to get off me but Petunia refused and said, and said, well, um,"  
  
"And said that Remus was hers," supplied Sirius helpfully.  
  
Kat's smile broadened.  
  
"Well, yeah, but I protested and Lily said that I was, um,"  
  
Lily was shaking her head, silently begging Remus not to tell, however, James saw this.  
  
"Lily said that Remus was yours," supplied James this time.  
  
Kat's smile turned into a frown.  
  
"Lily... wait a minute, where's Lily?" asked Kat.  
  
"Think she figured being with Petunia is safer than being with an angry Kat," replied Jo.  
  
Seconds later, shouts could be heard from Petunia's room.  
  
"Get out!"  
  
"Don't throw that at me! Ouch!"  
  
"Get out!"  
  
"That's a vase you're holding Petunia!"  
  
There was a sound of shattered glass when Lily ran out of the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
"Guess she changed her mind," said Jo.  
  
Lily smiled sheepishly at her friends and said, "Happens all the time,"

------

_Two hours later...  
_  
"I'm bored!"  
  
"And what do you suggest we do?" asked Lily.  
  
"Isn't there anything to do around here?" asked James.  
  
"Well, there is an ice-skating rink nearby," replied Lily  
  
"Then why didn't you say so earlier? Let's go!" Jo said with a twinkle in her eye.  
  
"Not good, not good," thought Kat (if you don't know why seeing a twinkle in Jo's eye is a bad thing, then read chapter 9!).  
  
Few minutes later, they were out of Lily's house and walking towards the ice-skating rink, they were glad to see that it wasn't very crowded,  
  
"Hope everyone brought some money 'coz you need money to rent the skates," said Lily.  
  
Everyone nodded. After everyone had rented and put on their skates, Jo was the first on the ice. Slowly, everyone got on the ice. Remus had never ice- skate before and so was a bit unsteady. Kat was trying to teach him to ice- skate when suddenly, "Ouch!"  
  
Kat fell on top of Remus.  
  
"Sorry," Kat apologized.  
  
"It's okay," Remus replied, his face a little red.  
  
Lily, who saw what happened, skated over to her friend.  
  
"Jo, how could you?"  
  
"How could I what?" replied Jo ever so innocently.  
  
"Knock into Kat on purpose," said Lily, hands on hips.  
  
"Oh that, well, I always thought that Remus and Kat would make a great couple but, they haven't been making much progress so I decided to give them a little push," said Jo grinning from ear to ear.  
  
Lily began to smile, "Yeah..."

------

Another chapter done. I'm feeling very accomplished. Haha. I hope I can finish editing everything by today. (: Anyway, review please!


	6. Back to Hogwarts

The Early Years

Recap:

"Jo, how could you?"  
  
"How could I what?" replied Jo ever so innocently.  
  
"Knock into Kat on purpose," said Lily, hands on hips.  
  
"Oh that, well, I always thought that Remus and Kat would make a great couple but, they haven't been making much progress so I decided to give them a little push," said Jo grinning from ear to ear.  
  
Lily began to smile, "Yeah..."

------

Lily breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped onto Platform 9 ¾ .

"At last, away from Petunia," Lily said to herself.

"Away from who?" asked Severus Snape who was behind her.

"Unfortunately not from you," replied Lily

"Why you stupid mudblood…" Snape proceeded to insult Lily with anything he could think of.

Lily just stood there, getting annoyed at Snape and was about to walk off when Snape grabbed her arm, preventing her to walk off.

"I'm getting tired of you mudblood," Snape said and was about to slap Lily when…

"My, my, never thought I'll see Severus Snape trying to hit a lady after what he said about him having good upbringing," said James who had just arrived.

"Well, my mum didn't say I couldn't punch mudbloods,"

"Well, my mum didn't say I couldn't punch slimy gits,"

"That's enough James, let's go," said Lily pulling him away from Snape.

Back in 'their' compartment (A/N Remember the last chapter?), James was fuming, no doubt about it.

"He called you a mudblood Lily!"

"He always does," Lily replied with an amused expression, James never bothers when Snape calls her a mudblood, at least, he doesn't try to beat him up.

"But he was trying to hit you!"

Lily smiled inwardly, when was the last time did James felt concern for her. She didn't know, probably a long time ago.

"Thanks anyway, for helping,"

"You're welcome," James replied blushing.

Lily didn't notice but Jo, who had just arrived with Kat, sure did. When Kat saw that familiar twinkle in Jo's eyes (A/N There's always a twinkle in Jo's eyes isn't it?), she thought, "Mayday! Mayday! Jo's got another crazy idea again!"

Just then, Remus and Sirius made a grand entrance into the compartment (literally). On the floor was a red carpet and there was smoke coming from nowhere (A/N think dry ice).

"Remus! Where did you learn that?" asked a surprised Sirius.

"My father taught it to me, I was surprised it worked though,"

"Remus? You are Remus aren't you? Can't see properly with all the smoke around," asked James.

"Nope, I'm Sirius," replied Remus, obviously in a mischievous mood.

"Hey! I'm Sirius," said Sirius.

"No, I am!"

"No, I am!"

"No, I am!"

"No, I am!"

"Stop it! Will you two act seriously?" shouted Jo.

"But I am Sirius!" said Sirius and Remus together, "Stop mimicking me!"

"No, I'm Sirius!"

"No, I'm Sirius!"

Kat who happened to be reading a book suddenly stood up and shouted, "Shut up!"

Everyone went silent.

"I didn't say that out loud, did I?" asked Kat.

Receiving no response, Kat sighed, "Guess I did, oh well," and saying so, she sat back down and continued reading. The rest of the gang exchanged puzzled looks, shrugged then sat down. The journey to Hogwarts carried on uneventfully.

Finally, when the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, Sirius asked, "Everyone got their Hogsmeade form signed?"

Everyone nodded slowly, there was something going on in Sirius' puny brain (in Jo's words).

"Yay, I can't believe it! We're in our 3rd year already! Hogsmeade here we come! Or better yet, Zonko's here we come!" Sirius said with a dreamy expression on his face.

"Yeah, I can't believe I actually survived the last 2 years with you two," Lily said pointing to Sirius and James.

"By the way James, only 3rd year and above are allowed into Hogsmeade, how did you get the goo from Zonko's? Remember? The goo you used on Snape?" asked Kat.

"Ah, ever heard of secret passageways?"

"Right, pretend I never asked,"

"Well, at least now we can go to Hogsmeade without crawling through that really squishy passageway," said Remus rather loudly,

"Shut up! Do you want the whole world to know?" warned Sirius.

All six got into the carriages, planning their next prank on Professor McGonagall, or better yet, those innocent first years, or better yet, both…

------

"All first years follow me, " said Professor McGonagall.

The first years followed quietly behind her, sensing she's not a professor to be trifled with.

"Oh come on, where's your spunk?" asked Sirius under James' invisibility cloak (the whole gang was under the cloak thanks to Lily's enlargement charm) "Really don't first years these days know how to have fun?"

Lily, Jo and Kat rolled their eyes, "Keep quiet will you?"

"I'm Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, please line up in one straight line and when I call your name, please step forward and wear the hat. It will sort you into your house. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. In Hogwarts, you will spend your free time in your house common room."

"Oh my, she told the first years the exact same thing she told us when _we _were first years! (Don't believe it! Check out chapter 2!) I wonder if she writes it all down on a piece of paper and memorises it and says the same thing to all the first years (It really does happen! My Geography teacher did just that! On the first day of school, she walked in and told us yada yada then we walked past another class to go to the computer lab. We heard her tell that class the exact same thing she told us! Lol!)," said Jo.

"Most probably," replied Remus.

"Hurry up! This is our chance!" exclaimed Sirius, "Minny has her back turned!"

Few seconds later, everyone had their under wear outside. (Think Superman!)

Back in the great hall, the other students at the Gryffindor table were wondering what the Marauders and the girls had gone. Most agreed that they had went to play a prank. Just then, a shout could be heard just outside the great hall, it sounded much like Professors McGonagall's.

"DETENTION!!!"

------

"Really, detention on the first day of school…" said James, "of course, not that I mind, I am, after all, competing with Sirius for the title of Most Detentions,"

The gang was back in the common room.

"So, what do we do next?" asked Sirius with a very mischievous glint in his eye.

"We don't do anything," replied Kat, "Enough is enough, we shouldn't pull any pranks anymore, at least no more for today,"

"You're kidding!" James exclaimed, "How about dyeing Dumbledore's beard neon pink?"

"Great idea!" said Jo as the rest of the group listened intently to James' plan.

"So much for putting my foot down," Kat thought as she walked over to the group.

"So we put the dye in…"

------

"Remus Lupin! Where the heck are you?"

It was a bright sunny afternoon and the girls were getting ready to go to Hogsmeade. However, Remus who had promised them a treat at Three Broomsticks was nowhere to be found.

"Let's just go, maybe he's waiting for us there!" said Jo impatiently.

"Let's wait awhile longer, he wasn't at breakfast, maybe something happened to him," Kat said, looking a little worried.

"James and Sirius said he was still sleeping because of last night's transformation, why don't we go up to his room and check? Just in case," suggested Lily.

They nodded and proceeded up the boys' staircase.

Then, they opened what they thought was the Marauders' room. It was in a total mess. Clothes strewn everywhere and spell books all over the place. The girls practically had to swim through the mess.

"Looks empty to me," commented Jo.

It was funny Jo chose that time to say that because suddenly, a lump on the bed (previously thought to be a pile of clothes) moved.

"Ahh!!!"

The lump seemed surprised and then, a head poked out. Remus' head to be exact, Remus' red head to be more exact.

Kat being concerned, moved over to feel his forehead and immediately withdrew it exclaiming, "You're running a fever!"

Remus looked dazed, "Fever?"

(A/N Ever heard of wizards catching a flu or down with chicken pox? You only hear them breaking out in horrible warts, growing tentacles and turning into ferrets right? Let's just pretend that running a fever is really extremely rare in the wizarding world.)

Lily and Jo moved over to Remus and both concluded that not only was Remus running a fever, he was also down with the cold, and had a throat infection.

"Better bring him to Madam Promfey (uh… is that how you spell her name?)," Lily said.

"Okay, but how?" asked Jo as she tried to lift a very drowsy Remus.

The girls tried to lift, carry and even resorted to pulling Remus out of bed to no avail.

"Where are James and Sirius when we need them?"

Finally Kat said, "I'm so stupid! A simple levitating spell would do the trick!"

"Great, and you had to take such a long time to tell us," said Jo who was sprawled on the floor, exhausted from her efforts of getting Remus out of bed.

"Sorry," Kat apologized sheepishly.

Five minutes later, they were at the hospital wing.

"Remus is down with the fever, cold and he has a throat infection," Lily informed Madam Promfey.

She looked really confused, "I never heard of those illnesses before,"

"Muggle aliments," Jo said, rubbing her sore arms, "Say, do you have anything for sore arms?"

"Muggle aliments? I can't treat muggle aliments! I don't have the medication!" Madam Promfey said, distraught and completely ignoring Jo's question.

"Erm, okay, so… what do we do?" asked Jo, raising a brow.

Kat, meanwhile, was staring at Remus and wiping his sweat, she turned to face the girls, "Should we consult a professor or something?"

Just at that moment, Professor McGonagall walked in with green warts on her face (what did I tell you!?) and James and Sirius by her side, who both by the way had grown two tentacles each.

"Professor!"

"What?" Professor McGonagall snapped, clearly irritated either by the warts on her face or the two sniggering Marauders by her side.

"It's Remus, he's very sick," Kat said, moving away from Remus for the first time since he got to the hospital wing.

Professor's McGonagall's eyes widened and the two Marauders stopped sniggering. They hurriedly strode over to Remus.

"He's very hot," Professor McGonagall observed.

"Yes, it's some kind of Muggle sickness called the fever and Madam Promfey doesn't have the medication to treat Remus," explained Lily.

At that, Madam Promfey started wailing, "I can treat hexes and curses but a fever? Wah!!!"

"Is it serious?" asked Professor McGonagall

"It's actually quite a common Muggle sickness, its cure can be readily found in pharmacies but sometimes, without medication and proper care, it could prove to be fatal," Jo replied as if she was reading out of a medical book.

Meanwhile, James and Sirius hovered over Remus, "We didn't know it was so serious, we thought it was just side effects of his transformation,"

Suddenly, Remus vomited deep, red blood.

------

Whew! Done with another chapter. All that editing is making my eyes swirly. Haha. Review please!


	7. Disappearence

The Early Years

Recap:

Meanwhile, James and Sirius hovered over Remus, "We didn't know it was so serious, we thought it was just side effects of his transformation,"

Suddenly, Remus vomited deep, red blood.

------

"Water…" Remus croaked. His throat felt painfully dry. He surveyed his surroundings and realised he was in the Hospital Wing. The lights were switched off and he could see moonlight streaming in through a nearby window. There was a glass of water on a side table beside his bed. He tried to reach for it but collapsed back on the bed. He was too tired. Remus shut his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his throat. Suddenly, he felt something touch his lips and soon, he was gulping down water. After drinking his fill, he dozed off to sleep, not wondering where the water came from.

"Argh…" Remus was awakened by a throbbing headache. He felt something lying against his leg and lifted his head to look. What greeted him was something quite unexpected. Kat was sitting in a chair and had fallen asleep with her head on his lap. He felt colour rise up to his cheeks…

"She was here the whole time?"

Suddenly, Kat stirred in her sleep and woke up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She saw Remus and looked startled.

"Up already?"

Remus nodded, red still staining his cheeks.

Kat noticed this and asked worriedly, with one hand on his forehead, "Are you feeling okay? You seem quite red,"

At this, Remus blushed even harder, "Were you here the whole night?"

"Uh huh," Kat nodded, standing up, "I'll go get you some water to drink,"

Remus looked up to the ceiling, "She was here the whole night, taking care of me,"

"What's up?" Kat said, grinning at her own joke. She had returned with a glass of water and some pills, "Swallow them," she ordered, "They're painkillers I brought just in case I get sick," she quickly added after seeing the sceptical look on Remus' face.

Remus nodded and swallowed the pills obediently.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked.

"Nothing serious, really. It's some kind of muggle sickness. Jo's the expert, ask her," Kat said, smiling slightly at the previous day's events.

Remus was about to ask her where the rest of the gang had gone when Kat spoke, "Jo had special permission to go buy some medicine for you since Madam Promfey doesn't has any… Poor lady, has been looking so helpless and distraught since you came in, oh, and Sirius went with her,"

Remus was about to ask where Lily and James were when Kat spoke again, "If you were wondering where James and Lily went, they had to attend classes and help us collect our homework. They were grumbling the whole night,"

"Wow, she reads my mind," Remus thought.

"I don't really read your mind, it's written all over your face," Kat said plopping down on the bed with a thermometer.

Remus started gaping, "Do my facial expressions say that much?"

"Say ah…" Kat said as she popped the thermometer into Remus' mouth.

------

"Got the medicine!" Jo said breathlessly as she burst into the Hospital Wing, Sirius following close behind.

"Gee… took you 2 long enough…" Lily said dryly.

Lily, James and Kat were gathered around Remus' bed.

"It's not my fault, Mr. Black tried to ask for aspirin at A&W but ended up buying a curly fries instead," Jo said rolling her eyes.

"Hey, the girl at the counter talked me into it," Sirius protested.

"Yeah, and after I finally brought the aspirin, he just had to lose it,"

"I found it anyway…"

"In the dustbin, yes,"

"I thought it was rubbish okay?"

Remus raised an eyebrow, " You mean to say my aspirin has been in the dustbin?"

"I bought another one,"

"Oh, okay,"

"Here," Jo said as she dumped all the contents of a plastic bag she was carrying onto the bed.

There were a few boxes of aspirin, a thermometer, a bottle of cough mixture, many, many boxes of tissue paper and a yellow polka dot bikini?

"Oops! How did it get there?" asked Sirius innocently

"Why… did you buy that?" asked James.

"The salesgirl talked me into buying it!"

"You big prat!" Jo hit him on the head, "Anybody can talk you into buying something,"

------

Kat woke up, sweating. She had a bad feeling about something. She was back in her dorm. Remus was feeling better and had insisted that she moved back to her dorm. She quietly got out of bed and went down to the common room.

"What is wrong with me?"

Slowly, she walked around the common room. Then it was as if her feet had minds of their own because she walked out of the common room without really thinking to. She was walking towards the Hospital Wing, the feeling she was having, getting stronger with every step she took.

"Okay, what am I doing wearing my pyjamas, walking in the halls at 3 in the morning? I could get caught!"

But she continued walking and walking, then slowly, she broke into a run. She ran all the way to the Hospital Wing and pushed open the doors, panting, hoping…

…that everything would be alright.

Remus' bed was empty.

------

Ooh… cliffy! Haha. Ok, maybe not.

------

"Remus," Kat whispered.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around, hand on her wand.

"Remus!" Kat exclaimed, and ran into his arms, sobbing onto his shirt, "I thought you were gone,"

Remus was momentarily frozen, "Eh… no, I'm okay… don't worry,"

"Oh, sorry," Kat said, embarrassed as she pulled away from Remus.

Suddenly, they heard an explosion and pieces of the ceiling fell down, narrowly missing them.

"I knew something was wrong…"

"What was that?" Remus asked worriedly.

"I…" Kat trailed off, "I don't know,"

At just about the same time Kat went down to the common room, Jo woke up. She glanced over at Kat's bed and realised it was empty. Jo sighed. She had wanted to talk about Sirius' recent strange behaviour around her. He always avoided her eyes and seemed red. Was he angry with her about something?

"Kat should know," Jo thought, "She's very observant,"

After ten minutes, Jo started to get worried. Kat still wasn't back. Had something happened to her? She decided to go and investigate. Jo went down to the common room but Kat was still nowhere in sight.

"I'll just peep outside…"

Jo popped outside and saw a shadow not very far from her. Feeling curious, she set out to follow the shadow. As she turned round the corner, she came face to face with…

Snape.

He was clearly surprised but maintained his cool, "What are you doing here?"

"Excuse me? This is the Gryfffindor part of the tower and I'm a Gryffindor. I have every right to here, unlike some certain Slytherin,"

"Well… it is a free country and I have every right to be wherever I want," snapped Snape. (haha, I just had to put that in.)

"Okay… so what are you doing here?" asked Jo, "trying to plant a bomb or something?"

At this, Snape paled but smirked, "Curiousity killed the cat,"

"I'm no cat… how did you learn a muggle saying anyway?" Jo asked, surprised.

"Curiousity killed the cat," Snape repeated, only this time with a tad of annoyance in his voice.

"If you don't tell, I'll tell Dumbledore you were behaving suspiciously in the Gryffindor part of the tower," Jo replied.

Silence.

Jo had only meant that as a joke but Snape actually took her seriously and drew out his wand, "You will tell no one,"

"Oh yeah? Watch me," Jo taunted.

Snape tried to hex her but missed narrowly.

"Why you little slimy good-for nothing git," Jo drew out her wand, "How dare you hex me,"

"Be quiet, someone will hear us!" Snape was clearly panicking now.

"What? You got something to hide?" Jo taunted again, throwing a hex at Snape.

She missed but Snape was clutching his arm and looked like he was in great pain.

"Stop pretending, my hex didn't even hit you," Jo said, "for once," she added as an afterthought.

Snape continued wincing and clutching his arm.

Jo looked at him, worried, "Is he really injured?" she thought.

Jo moved towards him, "Are you alright?"

"Just get out of here," Snape said glaring at her, "Don't come any nearer,"

Jo moved closer.

"You leave me no choice!"

Before she knew it, Jo was hit by black ball of fire and was flung across the hall. The last thing she saw was Snape yelling in pain and rocking back and forth, still clutching his arm. Then, she blacked out.

------

"I just hope everything is alright," Kat thought as she and Remus rushed towards the Gryffindor common room, the place they thought they heard the explosion.

They reached the Gryffindor tower.

"No…" Kat whispered, "No…"

She rushed over to Jo, "Jo… answer me. Speak to me. Say anything. Tell me how big a prat Sirius is,"

"Kat," Remus tapped her shoulder, "Look,"

Kat followed Remus' fingers and realised he was pointing at Snape. She and Remus traded worried looks, "I'll inform Dumbledore,"

Snape continued to rock back and forth, "Master will come soon, Master will come soon…"

Kat was worried. Snape seemed… disturbed by something. She looked at the passageway Remus disappeared into. "Remus, hurry,"

Kat sat beside Jo, hugging her knees tightly to herself, and looked around, "Oh boy,"

Ten minutes later, help arrived. Remus appeared behind her with Dumbledore in tow.

Professor Dumbledore surveyed the scene in front of him and ordered Kat and Remus to bring Jo to Madam Pomfrey. "I wouldn't even ask what you both are doing up, so late at night," and gave them a wink.

That succeeded in embarrassing them.

"No Professor… We were just… you got it wrong… never mind,"

------

Jo sat up in bed, rubbing her temples.

Suddenly, Lily and James darted into the room, "Quick! Sirius is coming!"

"Uh, so?"

"James sort of told him, you died,"

Jo raised an eyebrow, "Okay… so what do I do?"

"Pretend to be dead," James said as he pulled the covers over her head, "Now be awfully still,"

Just then, Sirius dashed into the room and saw his two friends standing by Jo's bedside, shaking their heads.

"NO!!!" Sirius wailed as he ran up to Jo and started sobbing on her, "I haven't told you about my latest prank, I haven't tested my latest prank on you! How could you go! I… I haven't even told you how much I… how much I…"

Suddenly, Jo sneezed.

"How much you?" Lily prompted, "Go on…"

"Did Jo just sneezed?" asked Sirius, sensing something fishy.

"Uh…no?" came a muffled voice from under the covers.

Sirius stared blankly at 'dead' Jo.

"Oh alright!" Jo said emerging from under the covers, "I hate it when you get all emotional on me,"

Sirius glared at alive Jo but at the same time blushed at what he nearly spilled.

"We were this close!" Lily said as she pressed her thumb and index finger together to emphasize her point, "This close!"

"I know," James said, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"This close about what?" asked Jo, a puzzled look on her face.

"This close to Sirius finally admitting mpha adfklj padfkjl mgag adyutle!"

Sirius had clamped his hand over James' mouth, "Nothing… nothing…"

"This close to finally admitting how much he loves," Lily stopped in mid-sentence, Sirius was giving her the glare, "cooking utensils?"

Jo blinked, "Wow Sirius, you hid you passion for cooking utensils really well!"

------

Haha. So what's up with Sirius' passion for cooking utensils? So in this chapter you got to find out what happened to Remus…This chapter was specially dedicated to all Remus lovers and fanatics! Yep! Also to those people who want to see Sirius really confused! Because I love making Sirius confused! Yes, and review please!


	8. Of school brooms and school dances

The Early Years

Recap:

"This close about what?" asked Jo, a puzzled look on her face.

"This close to Sirius finally admitting mpha adfklj padfkjl mgag adyutle!"

Sirius had clamped his hand over James' mouth, "Nothing… nothing…"

"This close to finally admitting how much he loves," Lily stopped in mid-sentence, Sirius was giving her the glare, "cooking utensils?"

Jo blinked, "Wow Sirius, you hid your passion for cooking utensils really well!"

------

"I can't believe Jo actually believed me!" Lily ranted, tugging at her hair, " I mean, habouring a passion for cooking utensils is kind of out, don't you think?"

James looked on amused, "Hey, we're talking about Sirius here. Anything is possible with him."

James and Lily were on their way to Transfiguration with the rest of the gang walking a little ahead of them.

"I suppose you're right." Lily said, grinning.

They reached the Transfiguration classroom. Lily took a deep breath, "Calm down Lily…" she muttered to herself.

"Transfiguration isn't _that_ difficult." James said.

"Only for you," Lily retorted, "You can top transfiguration without even trying."

"Thanks for the compliment but I think we better go," James said, pulling Lily into the classroom, "We're going to be late."

Professor McGonagall stood at the teacher's bench. She looked at all her students and began lecturing them on the day's lesson before launching into her "you better not mess up or make trouble" speech. At that, she glared significantly at the Marauders, who all, may I add, have extremely innocent smiles plastered on their faces.

"For today, I'm going to pair you up." Professor McGonagall's statement was met by groans and protests.

"Silence! Unless you want me to pair you up for the rest of the year,"

Immediately, the groans and protests subsided.

"Black and Streatfield."

"Julian and Harridson."

"Duracell and Parker."

"Lupin and O'neil."

"Potter and Evans."

(A/N hehe… how convenient, our favourite Maurauders are all paired up with the girls.)

"Guess I'm with you," James said uneasily to Lily, He was okay with just talking to her casually and all but pairing up with her for Transfiguration? Didn't she keep saying she hated him? Would she feel angry or unhappy that she would have to spend the whole of Transfiguration with someone she loathe? James prepared himself mentally for Lily's angry protests.

(A/N James sure lacks self-confidence eh?)

"Phew, am I glad I'm with you." Lily said as she moved towards James.

"You are?" James asked, surprised.

"Of course! I totally am lost when it comes to transfiguration but luckily you are the best there is." Lily said busying herself to get the pin cushions they needed to transfigure into porcupines.

"Right…" James was dazed by the unexpected turn of events.

"So how should I go about doing this?" Lily asked, swishing her wand around.

James looked at her, "Really Lily, didn't you listen to Minny?"

------

"I still don't get it!"

After about 30 minutes, Lily still had not turned her pin cushion into a porcupine yet.

"You got to swish your wand like that." James said, demonstrating with his own wand.

Lily stared intently at James' wand and started swishing her wand too.

"No, no like that," James said as he took her hand and started helping her swish her wand, "Like that."

Finally, Lily managed to change her pin cushion into a porcupine.

"Yay! I finally did it! Thanks James!" Lily said.

"No problem." James answered.

Suddenly, Lily felt a shadow loom over her… the shadow of Professor McGonagall,

Lily winced, "Uh oh."

"Lily, I've noticed how badly you fared in your last transfiguration test and how you can't perform some simple transfiguration without help," came Professor McGonagall's commanding voice.

"I know." Lily replied, looking down.

"So I want James to tutor you."

This was met with envious sighs all around class.

"That does not mean everyone should go and fail their tests, you got me?" Professor McGonagall barked shaply. (A/N haha, barked. Woof woof! Haha. Sorry.)

Then, in a more concerned tone of voice, she said to Lily and James, "I know you both don't really see eye to eye with each other but you really need the help."

"Okay," Lily replied, then she turned to James, "You don't mind do you?"

"No, it's fine with me." James said, letting the realization sink in that he would be privately tutoring Lily in Transfiguration.

James mentally slapped himself. Why was he making such a big deal out of it? He was just tutoring her! Anyway, didn't he find Lily a pain? Somehow, he heard a voice in his head say _not anymore_.

------

"No, no, no Lily, not like that, you got to flick your wand for this one, not swish it."

James and Lily were in an empty classroom and James was currently trying to teach Lily how to transfigure a soft toy bunny into a real life bunny.

"It really isn't that difficult, you see, the bunny looks real enough, you won't have trouble trying to visualise a real bunny."

"But James! I'm bad at visualizing!"

"Lily, you could at least try."

"But I've tried many times!"

"Try again! Don't be stubborn!"

"I'm not stubborn!" Lily said folding her arms.

"Urgh! I give up!" James threw his arms up in the air, "You're not only stubborn, you're stupid!"

Lily looked at James, then looked away, "I'm not stupid," she whispered.

"Oh no, I've hurt her feelings," James thought.

"I'm feeling tired," Lily said, leaving the room, "We're continue this… some other time."

"Wait!" James wanted to call out but Lily was already gone.

James sighed. _What was wrong with girls?_ He grabbed the toy bunny and headed towards the kitchens.

Meanwhile, Lily was in the kitchens eating the food the house elves so generously piled her with. Feeling frustrated, she grabbed one house elf and started pouring out her troubles.

"I always eat when I'm feeling frustrated you know," she began.

"Pinky didn't know, shall Pinky go get some more food for Miss Lily?" Pinky said wiping her hands on her rags.

"All I wanted was to pass Transfiguration! I really tried hard on that spell because I really like bunnies! I do!" Lily continued, totally ignoring the poor house elf.

Pinky was confused so she just stood there nodding her head. Finally, Lily was done and Pinky asked, "More food for Miss Lily?"

Lily smiled a wistful smile and shook her head, "Thanks Pinky," and she walked rather dejectedly out of the kitchens, not noticing a pair of eyes looking at her as she left. Lily walked out, all the way to the lake and sat down behind the tree. She gazed at the lake, her hands tickling the grass. Suddenly, something licked her hand.

"Aww… it's so cute!" Lily picked up the bunny, "Hey! You look like the toy bunny!"

"Maybe because it is."

Lily looked up and met the gaze of James Potter.

"Like the bunny?"

Lily nodded, "Thanks."

James sat down and smiled, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you stubborn and stupid."

"No, I was being stubborn and stupid. I totally cannot do Transfiguration." Lily said, hugging her knees.

"Sure you can." James said, throwing a pebble into the lake.

"I can't James, I failed many times! You saw for yourself!" Lily said, now furiously plucking the grass.

James looked at Lily, "So what if you fail a hundred times? Just make sure you get it right on the hundred and first time!"

Lily bit her lips.

James stood up, "Even if you fail a thousand times, all you have to do is succeed on the thousand and first time!"

Lily stared at the lake for a long time, then, she stood up and smiled.

------

The great hall was buzzing with excitement. Professor Dumbledore had announced that the third years were going to have a formal ball and attendance was mandatory.

"But why?!" Jo was absolutely dismayed.

"Dumbledore just wants to introduce to the third years the concept of a formal ball." Remus replied, eating his cornflakes, not noticing the extra 'ingredients' Sirius had thrown in.

"But don't you think it's funny he wants the guys to wear, you know, smart muggle clothes instead of dress robes?" commented Lily.

"Yeah…"

"Maybe Dumbledore's feeling hyper today!" Sirius said brightly, glancing towards the teachers' table.

Everybody turned to look at the headmaster. Dumbledore had on this weird smile and on his plate were nine cupcakes. They nodded understandingly.

"So, has anyone asked you to the dance yet Kat?" Jo asked, looking quite pointedly at Remus.

Kat, who was reading The Daily Prophet, nodded absentmindedly. Lily looked up at Remus. He looked disappointed.

"But I turned him down," came Kat's voice from over the paper.

Remus' head snapped up at the moment she said that. Jo grinned. Lily smiled. Sirius smirked. James coughed to hide his laugh.

"What?" Kat asked, looking over The Daily Prophet.

Just then, a few third year girls from Ravenclaw came over to the Gryffindor table and seated themselves between the Marauders. Lily tilted her head, wondering what they were doing. James smiled at her little action. It was so… Lily.

"So how about you and I go to the dance together?" one girl asked Sirius, flipping her hair.

Jo coughed on her pumpkin juice.

"Isn't the guy supposed to ask?" Lily whispered to Kat, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Times are changing, I suppose."

The other girls also started asking the Marauders to the dance. Sirius raised an eyebrow. Since when were they popular with the girls? _Since forever. _A little voice in his head reminded him. _Oh yeah_.

Kat put down her paper, "I'm going to the library."

Remus looked at her and was about to say something but a Hufflepuff stopped him by attempting to feed him some pastries. Lily and Jo followed Kat but the moment they stood up, a few guys surrounded them and asked them to the dance.

Kat was surprised, "Huh?"

"The dance, would you like to go with me?" a pretty good-looking guy from Hufflepuff said.

"Uh…" Kat glanced back.

Jo cut in, "Kat has a date already, sorry."

Kat tugged at Jo's sleeve, "But I don't have a date."

Jo laughed nervously, "Of course you do. Remus asked you and you agreed, remember?"

Kat knew what Jo was driving at and kept quiet.

"Well then, how about you two charming ladies?"

Jo and Lily looked at each other, then looked around. Everyone was staring at them.

"Well…" More nervous laughter, "You see, we uh… don't dance?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Of course you do! Don't try and be modest!" came James' voice.

Lily narrowed her eyes, "Why he…"

"So about the dance?"

Lily and Jo turned to the boys. They shrugged their shoulders, "Well, I suppose I…"

"We're so sorry but the ladies are taken."

Sirius and James.

The hopefuls quickly dispersed and soon they were left alone.

Jo blinked, "Was that an invitation to the dance?"

"I suppose you girls won't mind?" James asked.

Lily sighed. What else could she do?

Suddenly, Remus started choking, "Gah! Sirius, what did you put in my cornflakes?"

(A/N So is it officially a date?)

"Mr. Lupin, the Headmaster would like to see you."

The gang was in the common room.

"Yes Professor," said Remus, picking up his books, "See you guys later!"

Soon, Remus found himself in front of the gargoyle.

"Oops, I forgot to ask Minny for the password."

He tried everything. Lemon drops, Cockroach Clusters, Every Flavour Beans.

"Argh! I don't know, chocolate frogs."

Remarkably, the statue leapt away to reveal a staircase. Remus grinned and started climbing. As he ascended, he heard voices.

"Mr. Snape, I am disappointed. Why are you practising dark magic?"

Remus froze. _Snape was practising dark magic?_ He strained to listen to the conversation.

"I believe you are not bad to the core, you could have injured her more seriously but you didn't."

_Is he referring to Jo?_

"You may leave now, I have a visitor."

_He heard me?_

Snape walked past Remus and looked at him coldly. Remus returned the glare. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat and Remus hurried in front of him.

"I trust everything is going fine? Any complications when you transform?" Dumbledore asked, clasping his hands together.

Remus opened his mouth but no words came out. He wanted to tell Dumbledore the group's plans on the Anamagi thing.

"Yes?" Dumbledore asked again, expecting an answer.

"Oh, uh… everything is fine."

Dumbledore looked at him through his half-moon spectacles, "Alright, just a routine check, you may go now."

Remus turned to leave when Dumbledore added, "Don't be quick to judge people. I'm sure you know best how it feels to be judged."

Remus nodded. _So Snape is really practising dark magic?_ He walked back towards the common room, deciding whether or not he should tell the gang. Remus looked out of the window and saw Snape out by the lake, just standing there. He decided not to. _At least, not now._

------

It was the day of the dance and all the third years were excited. You could feel it in the air…literally.

"Black! Why are these confetti, streamers and junk _floating_ in the middle of the hallway?" Professor McGonagall boomed.

Sirius let out a low whistle, "How did you guess Minny?"

"It has your fingerprints all over it." Professor McGonagall retorted, holding up the streamers and other party goods.

Sirius shrugged, "Just getting into the spirit of things." He turned away from the 'ready to explode' Professor and walked towards the girls, "Anyone up for a game of Quidditch?"

Half an hour later, the Marauders were up in the air, taking turns to throw the quaffle into the hoop. The girls, however, still had their feet planted firmly on the ground.

"No way are you expecting me on get on that old, rickety thing," Kat said, looking at the old school brooms.

"Yeah, I can imagine it now… We're flying on those brooms and when we're halfway up in the air and, may I add, very far from the ground, it snaps." Lily winced, 'Ouch…"

"At most, you'll just probably break a few bones." Remus said, landing besides her.

"I don't see what's so bad about broken bones anyway." Sirius said as he dismounted his broom. Jo absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair around her finger and admitted grudgingly, "I suppose if you do have broken bones, you weren't be able to attend the dance."

"Oh come on." Sirius said as he pulled Jo onto his broom.

Jo shrieked, "Promise you won't go too high!"

"Promises _are_ meant to be broken, you know," replied Sirius.

"Fine, then I'll get… ah!!!" Sirius had already kicked off, "Sirius Black! You put me down this instant!"

"Sorry, no can do," came the reply.

_Meanwhile, back on the ground…_

"Wow… looks like they're having fun." Lily commented dryly.

Kat looked up the sky, one hand shading her eyes, "Wonder if Sirius has gone deaf yet?"

Yep, Jo was screaming pretty loudly. Oh wait, scratch that. She's screaming very loudly. Sound of shattering glass at the other end of the Hogwarts grounds. Okay, Sirius is probably deaf by now.

"So." James turned to Lily.

"So?" Lily raised a delicate brow.

James held out his broom, "Wanna ride?"

------

Professor McGonagall looked briefly towards the window. She could have sworn she heard Lily screaming. She shook her head, "Must be getting old… the third years are preparing for their dance."

Or so she thought.

------

Alright. Chapter 8 is done! Yay! Haha, review people!


	9. Spiking the punch

The Early Years

Recap:

Professor McGonagall looked briefly towards the window. She could have sworn she heard Lily screaming. She shook her head, "Must be getting old… the third years are preparing for their dance."

Or so she thought.

------

"You got to put this on! Wait, no, how about this? It brings out your eyes!"

Kat sat down in front of the dresser, waiting patiently for her dorm-mates to stop fussing around her.

"How about I just tie my hair up in a ponytail?"

"You can't do that!"

"No!"

"Are you out of your mind?"

Kat's suggestion was met with violent objections.

"Fine…fine… just a harmless suggestion."

Then the doors of the bathroom were kicked open.

"I don't get this dress thingy… It's just a piece of cloth draped around your body!" Jo was grumbling over her supposedly revealing dress.

"Aww… it isn't that bad…" Lydia, another 3rd year, piped up.

Actually, it _really_ wasn't _that_ bad.

She had on a blue top with a daring cut. The front cuts down diagonally but goes up before it can reveal anything. The bottom part of the top was made of translucent material, showing Jo's belly button and toned stomach. The bottom part of her outfit consists of a long dark blue skirt.

"Didn't I tell you not to buy anything too revealing?" Jo asked, hands on hips.

She had been too lazy to bring herself a dress and had asked the other 3rd year girls to buy something for her.

"Oh, and don't touch my hair," Jo continued, looking at Kat, "I don't like gel."

The other girls looked at her hair and smiled. Jo's hair was tied up in a kind of messy bun. It gave her that aloof and 'I hate people nagging at me' look.

"Oh we won't do anything. It's perfect!"

Jo blinked, "It is?"

"Well… at least you're done with your hair." Kat said, standing up, "I've been tugging at mine for hours."

Kat's dress was simple. It was sleeveless and white, reaching all the way down to the floor and when she moved, it sort of sweeped around her. Completing the look was a white scarf around her neck.

"I think you should just leave your hair down." Lily said emerging from the curtains (haha, drama), "It gives you that lost damsel kind of feeling."

The girls jumped, "Where did you come from?"

"I didn't see you getting dressed." Jo said.

"I don't like dawdling." Lily answered.

Lily's dress was sleeveless, reaching down to her ankles. Flowers adorned the neckline and there was a belt around her waist but it looked like it was thrown on in a great hurry, with the end of the belt sticking out. Some parts of her hair were pulled back in a plait while the rest just tumbled down on her shoulders.

"Wow… I'm impressed." Kat said folding her arms.

"Yah, well let's go down, we're kinda late." Lily said walking out of the door.

"Don't worry about that. Girls are always supposed to be late." One 3rd year said.

The girls shook their heads and walked out of the dorm. They were the last to get dressed but first to get down. The Marauders stood at the sight of them and looked visibly relieved. All the guys were in the common room… with nothing to do, except play with their ties. Which many of them were doing.

"It looks like a bachelor party without the partying," commented Kat.

Sirius wolf-whistled when he neared Jo, "Looking good…"

"Aww, shucks." Jo slapped him playfully on the arm, then her cheerful tone changed to a serious one, "Shut up."

Lily whispered to Sirius, "She's a little touché about her outfit. Thinks it's too revealing."

Sirius was puzzled. _I think she looks great._ He shrugged. _I'll never understand girls._

------

Music was playing. Lights were dimmed just right. Food tasted great. BUT the Marauders thought something was amiss.

"Somewhere forgot to spike the punch!" James proclaimed brightly.

"Really?" Lily asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"I suppose you can never be too sure." Kat said, hastily putting down her glass of punch.

"Well then," Remus began as a slow song struck up, "Wanna dance?"

"Be glad to." Kat answered as she took his outstretched hand.

James and Sirius sighed as they watched their good friend, Remus, dancing.

_I can see what's happening_

_& they don't have a clue_

_They'll fall in love & here's the bottom line_

_Our trio's down to two_

"Wanna go spike the punch?"

"No!"

"Girls. They're not risk-takers."

"We are too!"

"Ha. Prove it."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

Silence.

"Do you think they'll really spike it?

"I don't know. Jo and Lily can get pretty crazy when they want to."

"Shh… they're coming back."

"There! We spiked it. Happy?"

"Yeah, good job. I think we're already seeing the effects."

Sounds of bodies thumping against the floor.

"Oops. I think we got too carried away. We shouldn't have added so much."

Another moment of silence.

"Remus and Kat still dancing huh?"

"Yeah."

_& if he falls in love tonight_

_It can be assumed_

_His carefree days with us are history_

_In short, our pal is doomed _

"I need to go out for some fresh air."

"I'll come with you!"

"What's with the sudden enthusiasm James?"

"Nothing! I just needed to get some fresh air too! That's all!"

"Okay, fine. No need to get so defensive…"

"I'm not getting defensive!"

Lily smiled, "Whatever you say James."

James quickly pulled Lily towards the door, "Let's go."

"So… what do we do now?" Sirius turned to Jo.

Jo looked at him, and sighed.

------

_Meanwhile, by the lake…_

"Do you realize something?"

"Hmm?" Lily was enjoying the breeze.

James beckoned for her to sit down, "This has suddenly become our important 'talking' place."

Lily laughed, "Yeah, you're right."

Then, suddenly out of the calm waters, a red, huge, thing rose out of the lake.

"Ahh!" Lily stumbled back and fell onto James.

James looked up and realized that it was just one of the tentacles of the giant octopus. Slowly, it disappeared beneath the dark expanse of the water.

"Is it gone yet?" Lily asked closing her eyes.

"Uh… not really." James said. He was enjoying the fact that Lily had buried her head in his chest with her arms around his neck. He looked up to the night sky. Yep, life was good.

------

"Son, wake up! Wake up! James Potter!"

"What? What? Where's the fire?" James yelled as he bolt up to a sitting position.

"I'm afraid I don't know about any fire," Harold Potter, James' father, said with a twinkle in his eye, "but I do want to know about this Lily you've been uttering about in your sleep."

Immediately, James turned an interesting shade of red. The holidays had just started and James was already thinking about Lily… but of course, he just wouldn't admit it.

"Oh yes, I definitely want to know about the girl who can make my son blush."

"Dad, I'm not blushing and I'm not thinking about Lily!"

James father smiled knowingly, "Breakfast's ready by the way," he said in an almost sing-song voice.

James looked out of the window as his father shut the door. He had been thinking a lot about his 3rd year at Hogwarts. After the ball (I'm sure we all know _which _ball it is beams), Lily and he had grown closer and didn't bicker as much as they used to. In fact, Lily had bought him a watch as a thank-you present for tutoring her at transfiguration. She had managed to get a good grade for the final-year examinations. James treasured the watch very much and wore it every day. He could still remember Lily's exact words…

"Here!" Lily said shoving something into James' hands.

"What is it?"

"A watch! As a thank-you for tutoring me in transfiguration and because you always seem to be late for lessons!" Lily answered brightly.

James was brought out of his reverie when he mother shouted for him to have breakfast.

"Coming!" James hollered as he started getting dressed. _Man, I keep thinking about Lily. This is getting unhealthy._

------

"James! Snap out of it! Hello?! James?"

"Huh? What?"

"James, you've been staring at these lilies for the longest time? Is anything wrong?" asked James' very concerned mother.

Mr. Potter appeared out of nowhere and said again in a sing-song voice, "I bet I do!"

"No mum, I'm _fine_." James replied, giving a very significant look to his father, "Anyway, Sirius and Remus would be coming over later on and they would be staying for dinner 'kay mum?"

Then, he ran for the safety of his room.

After about half an hour of trying really hard to _not_ think about Lily, but failing miserably (Come on, if I tell you to takes deep breath shut your eyes and not think about a pink elephant eating chocolates you _would_ probably think about a pink elephant eating chocolates), James gave up.

Finally, Sirius and Remus arrived and they managed to take his mind off Lily… oh yes, they sure did. The first thing Sirius said when he saw James was, "Let's go rob the candy shop!"

James rolled his eyes, "Why don't we go rob the bank instead?"

"That's a great idea!" Sirius said as he pulled out a whole bunch of stockings, "I even brought these to disguise ourselves!"

"What? To pull over our heads when we go rob the bank?" James asked sarcastically.

"No… I thought we could just wear them and disguise ourselves as girls!" came Sirius' brilliant answer.

"Excuse me? I couldn't help but overhear your _extremely_ loud conversation." Remus was standing behind Sirius with an amused look.

"He wants to rob the bank." James said rubbing his temples.

"And don't forget the candy shop!" Sirius added.

Remus grinned, " I was thinking along the lines of you know, raiding the fridge?"

It took about a minute for Sirius to process this thought, "Right! Let's go raid the fridge!" and he bounced into the kitchen, Remus following close behind.

James leaned against the door and let out an exasperated sigh, "What did I do to deserve all this?"

------

"I like dinner!"

"What a surprise," came a voice, not sounding very surprise at all.

"Uh huh!"

"Now… I wonder why," said a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Because there's food!"

"Sirius, there's food at breakfast and lunch too!"

"Yeah… but," Sirius looked around and whispered, "At breakfast, I say I like breakfast, at lunch, I say I like lunch so I won't hurt the food's feelings."

Remus buried his head in his hands, "I have no idea why your parents are still sane after living with you for so long."

"What makes you think they're still sane?" asked Sirius.

Remus blinked, "Yes, of course, my mistake."

James' father looked up from his plate of spaghetti and asked quite suddenly, "Do any of you know a girl called Lily?"

James spat out his spaghetti.

"Yeah, Lily is the girl James…" Remus started but Sirius interrupted him saying, "has a crush on!"

James glared at Sirius, "You shouldn't listen to him Dad, Sirius is very hyper today! His words cannot be trusted."

"Alright then, how about you Remus? What do you say?"

Remus had finally caught on, "James doesn't have a crush on Lily, he has a _major_ crush on her! Even to the point of," he muttered darkly, "obsession."

Mr. Potter leaned back on his chair, a satisfied smile on his face, "We should invite her over here one of these days."

James started at his spaghetti, "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

------

"But mum… I don't want to move!"

"I'm afraid we have to Jo, it'll be easier for your father to get to the office that way."

Jo sat down on the sofa, pouting.

"Besides, you won't really be affected by the change. You're nearly always at school." Jo's mother added, putting away all the books in a cardboard box.

Jo knew her mother was right. She was just throwing a tantrum. She felt uncertain moving to another place after having lived in her house for 13 years.

"Alright mum, I was just wondering where we were moving to…"

------

"We're going to have new neighbours?"

[bounce bounce]

"Yes, we're going to have some new neighbours, seems that our old neighbours moved out because someone kept throwing a foul-smelling thing into their chimney."

[bounce bounce]

"By any chance, did you happen to throw some dungbombs around?"

[bounce bounce]

"Me? _The _Sirius Black? The _angelic_ Sirius Black? Okay fine, I did it. I threw the dungbombs into the Fortswhire's chimney."

"That's better, now when our new neighbours come, you go over and give them my brownies as a peace offering. And no eating!"

[bounce bounce]

"Alright mum,"

[bounce bounce]

"And please, stop bouncing."

"Okay mum," Sirius got down the sofa.

"Here!" Mrs. Black gave Sirius a tray of brownies, "Remember to bring it to them in one big piece."

Sirius carried the tray of brownies and as soon as he was sure his mum couldn't see him, he helped himself to a large helping of brownies.

"Been eating the brownies you were supposed to give the new neighbour huh?"

Sirius froze. _Oops. Mum saw me._

"Mum, I was just tasting it to see if it was edible! Honest!"

"Do I look like your mum to you?"

Sirius turned and came face to face with…

Lily.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

"Sirius, I'm your next door neighbour remember?"

(A/N Everyone remember that Lily was Sirius neighbour right from the start? Look at chapter 1 How it all began… to refresh your memories.)

"Oh…right."

Lily ate a piece of brownie, "Any idea who's our new neighbour?"

"No… we're going to find out soon though." Sirius stopped in front of the door and looked down at the tray of brownies. They were almost all gone, "Oh well, might as well eat them all up."

Sirius and Lily finished up the brownies and hid the tray in one of the bushes in the garden. Suddenly, the door opened.

"Lily? Sirius?"

They looked up.

"JO?!"

Standing at the doorway was Jo (who else could it be?). And her face wore a scary smile, "I think I'm going to enjoy staying in my new neighbourhood."

------

Woohoo! I'm almost done editing. I am very proud of myself. Haha. Anyway, drop a review and make my day!


	10. The Transfer Student

The Early Years

Recap:

"Lily? Sirius?"

They looked up.

"JO?!"

Standing at the doorway was Jo (who else could it be?). And she had on this weird smile, "I think I'm going to enjoy staying in my new neighbourhood."

------

"Oh man! Impossible! Your house is sandwiched between Jo's and Lily's? I don't believe it!" That was James' reaction when he was told that Jo moved beside Sirius.

"Believe it."

The gang was on the train to Hogwarts, with the exception of Kat. No one knew where she was.

"Do you think she ran into some trouble or something?" asked a very worried Remus.

The gang exchanged concerned looks. Suddenly, they heard some commotion outside the compartment. They hurried out and saw Kat struggling against some Slytherins.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!" Remus shouted.

Oh yes. He was angry. Very angry. (A/N Anyone wanna guess why?)

The Slytherins saw the Marauders and backed away a little. They were kind of intimidated by them. After all, Remus seldom got angry.

"Wingardiom Leviosa!"

The Slytherins suddenly started floating in mid-air. Kat hurried over to Remus' side. Then, with a flick of Lily's wand, the Slytherins landed with a thud.

"And don't let us see you again!"

With that, the gang turned on their heels and went back to their compartment, ignoring the crowd outside which had gathered to watch the fight.

Inside the compartment, Kat was bombarded with questions.

"Why were you with them?"

"Did they hurt you?"

Kat sat down, "I'm fine! I'm fine!"

"Really!" she added after sensing their uncertainty.

"What happened then?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know exactly, they just grabbed me into their compartment when I was looking for you guys, and they refused to let me out!"

"But why?" James was puzzled.

"Slytherins act very weirdly." Lily observed.

The rest nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, you had better be careful, the Slytherins have been acting a lot more weirder this year..."

------

"Attention! Attention please!"

Shouts died down to hushed whispers.

"Thank you. This year we have a transfer student from Drumstrang. Please welcome Peter Pettigrew!"

There was some polite clapping and the students craned their necks to take a peep at the new transfer student. He had dark hair, a pointed nose and wasn't very tall. The sorting hat was placed on the transfer student and after what seemed like a struggle between the sorting hat and Peter's mind, a decision was reached.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As Peter was walking towards the Gryffindor table, some Slytherin decided he needed to stretch his leg and maybe it was because Peter was so caught up in the heat of the moment that he totally ignored the outstretched leg and stepped on it instead... Which of course left the Slytherin howling in pain.

"Good showing!" James had praised him the moment he sat down.

"Oh, it was nothing!" Peter said, "It was quite obvious he wanted his foot to be stepped on if he just left it there, on the walkway."

Sirius grinned, "I like the way you think."

So that was how the Marauders became four. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

------

"Sirius! Oh Sirius darling!"

Jo rolled her eyes as she walked past one of Sirius Black's many "fans". Of course, she had no idea why she was feeling so annoyed, even angry, at these people. It just irked her. (tsk tsk Jo, Jo, Jo, Jo, it's called jealousy?)

Suddenly, a pair of hands covered her eyes, "Guess who?" Jo let out a little smile, "If it isn't the great and powerful Sirius Black of the Marauders, who recently have been conferred the title of Most Charismatic."

"Ah, and let there be light."

Jo felt the hands leaving her eyes and whirled around to see Sirius with that usual grin of his.

"May I know for what reason is Your Royal Majesty playing peek-a-boo with me?" Jo asked.

"Aww, Jo, can't I play peek-a-boo with you without being suspected of harbouring an ulterior motive?" Sirius had grabbed Jo's shoulders and was steering her to the Great Hall.

"I didn't say you were harbouring an ulterior. You confessed on your own."

Sirius blinked. _Why does she always make me feel stupid?_

"So, where are you taking me?" Jo asked suddenly.

Sirius grinned, "You'll see."

Suddenly, they stopped in front of the Great Hall. Jo looked at Sirius, "Why did you bring me here?"

"Open the door."

Jo pushed it open and was greeted by loud cheers of,

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Like it?" a voice whispered in her ear.

"I thought you guys forgot about it." Jo said softly, almost to herself.

Sirius tapped her on the shoulder and was about to say something when they were interrupted by another girl.

"Sirius, sweetie, you're an expert at DADA aren't you? I need you to help me with my homework!"

Jo watched as Sirius was being pulled away, "Sirius nearly failed DADA..."

Lily, Kat, James, Remus and Peter walked up to her and gave her a present which they all forked up money to buy. A brand new cloak which could keep her warm during the cold winter.

------

"Come on! Let's party!"

"I think Peter had too much butterbeer..."

"Nonsense! I'm fine!"

At the moment, Peter was on top of the Gryffindor table dong a really good impression of the famous ballet, The Nutcracker.

"Peter? I think you better come down. The table looks like its gonna break," Kat advised, looking at the legs of the table.

"No! I like it up here!"

"Peter? It won't be wise to stay up there!"

"I'm not coming down!"

"Come down and we will do the... the," James looked around at his friends for some helpful suggestions.

"Can-can?" Remus suggested.

James shrugged, "If you'd come down, we'll do the can-can!"

"The can-can? Okay!" Delighted, Peter jumped down.

A sickening crash was heard. The table broke... quite badly.

"So, how 'bout the can-can?" Peter asked cheerfully.

The others looked on in disbelief, "You think we should slap him or something? To get him to wake up?"

"Why not throw him into the lake?"

"Good idea."

Jo grinned, _this sure is one heck of a birthday party._

------

"Goodnight Jo!"

"Goodnight Lily, Kat…"

Jo tucked herself into bed and was about to fall asleep when…

"Psst, wake up!"

"Hmm?"

"It hasn't past 12 midnight yet right? So I can still celebrate your birthday."

Jo looked up at Sirius, "Thanks, but no thanks, there's only 20 minutes to 12 and my birthday's going to be over soon."

"Come on, I really want to celebrate your birthday with you."

Jo smiled. _Sirius can be kinda sweet sometimes._ Aloud, she said, "Alright, if you insist, I don't want to wake up the rest with our squabblings."

Sirius grinned and pulled Jo out of bed with her protesting about putting on her cloak.

"There's no time!" was Sirius' answer.

"But I'm cold!"

Immediately, Sirius took of his cloak and draped it around Jo, "There, now stop complaining."

"Who says I'm complaining?" Jo pouted cutely.

Sirius smiled. He had always thought that Jo was different from other girls. Quickly he led Jo to the astronomy tower.

"What are we doing here?" Jo questioned.

"There's suppose to be a meteor shower tonight." Sirius said, looking at his watch, "Anytime now…"

Jo looked up at the starless sky and stated, "I only see the moon."

"Patience is a virtue, you know."

"Fine."

"There it is! Look up!"

Jo looked up and saw the beautiful shower of meteors.

"Happy Birthday." Sirius whispered as he took out something from his pocket.

Suddenly, Jo felt something cold against her skin and her hands flew up to her neck. A necklace.

"This…"

"Your birthday present."

"But you already gave me the cloak." Jo said turning to face Sirius.

"This is something special."

Jo bit her lip as she played with the necklace, "Thank you."

------

"Hey Jo, you know Sirius really well right?"

Jo looked at Crystal, a 4th year Ravenclaw, and raised her eyebrows, "What ever possessed you to ask that?!"

Kat smiled and said, "As much as Jo hates to admit it, she really does know Sirius really well."

"Well, that's good. Do you know what kind of girl Sirius likes?" Crystal asked.

"Any girl who throws herself at him." Jo muttered under her breath but said aloud, "The intellectual kind to make up for his lack of brains."

"Then I should match his criteria seeing that I _am_ a Ravenclaw…" she drawled.

"Why don't you ask the guy yourself?" Lily suggested, "He's coming this way."

True enough, the Marauders were headed for the girls.

"Hello ladies." Sirius flashed his award-winning smile.

Jo could hear Crystal sigh dreamily.

"Crystal has a question for you, Sirius." Kat said casually.

"Really?" Sirius asked, facing Crystal.

Crystal started blushing and stuttered, "Yeah, uh… what, the, girl… uh, like… nothing!" and off she ran.

Sirius blinked, "What's with her?"

"Sirius! She likes you! She just wanted to know what kind of girl you like."

James rolled his eyes, "Girls…"

"HEY!" came 3 indignant shouts.

"Anyway," Peter said, "What kind of girl do you like, exactly?"

"Yeah, I'm interested to know too." Remus chimed in.

"I don't know," Sirius started. Just at the moment, mental images of Jo laughing, smiling, sleeping, studying, playing quidditch and pulling pranks flashed across his mind, "Jo…"

"Huh?" Jo asked, puzzled.

Realising he said that out loud, Sirius blushed and stammered, "Not…Nothing."

"So what kind of girl do you like?"

Sirius started walking towards the greenhouses, the gang following close behind, eager to know Sirius' dream girl.

"Don't worry, I'll know when she comes along."

_That's the problem._ Lily looked over at Jo and frowned. _I'm afraid you wouldn't._

Sirius woke up, feeling hungry.

"It's only 3 in the morning!" He looked around. No one was awake. (A/N It's 3 in the morning! What do you expect?)

_I'll go to the kitchens on my own then._ Sirius got dressed and hurried out of the dorm, grabbing James' invisibility cloak as he went. Finally, he reached the kitchens and was greeted by very enthusiastic house elves.

"Would Mr. Sirius like any food?"

"Why, you read my mind!" Sirius winked at the female house elf. Embarrassed, she quickly ran to get the food.

"You're even hitting on house elves eh?"

Sirius turned around, "JO!"

"Surprised to see me?"

Sirius took a few steps back, "Uh huh,"

Jo raised her eyebrows when she saw Sirius taking steps back.

"What's the matter? I don't bite."

"I know that!"

"So?"

"Nothing! I was just shocked you found your way into the kitchens!"

Jo blinked, "Right," She offered Sirius an apple.

"Thanks." _What's wrong with me? Its just Jo! _He ran his fingers around his collar. _Why am I feeling so hot anyway?_

"Are you okay?" Jo asked, frowning. "You look kinda red."

"I'm fine!" Sirius said, backing away some more.

Jo put her hand on Sirius forehead and he became redder. Did the temperature just rise significantly or is Sirius babe-magnet extraordinaire blushing?

"Uh…" Sirius looked around for an escape route. "I suddenly have a urge to uh… go frolic with the giant octopus!"

Jo didn't have time to stop Sirius. Instead, she shouted, "Be careful not to catch a cold!"

She sighed and looked at the door Sirius disappeared into. _What's going on? Things are getting very strange around here._

After finishing her chocolate pudding, Jo dashed back to the dorm…

"Kat! Wake up! Wake up!"

"What on Earth Jo? It's 4 in the morning!"

"Lily, go back to sleep, it's none of your business."

"Well, I'm going to make it my business now."

Jo rolled her eyes and sighed, "If you want to know… see, Sirius have been acting very weird around me lately. As if, I don't know… it's like he always seems to have trouble breathing and all."

Lily listened intently and nodded, "That happens to James when he's around me as well. Plus, he looks red and feels hot. Like he's having a fever."

Jo nodded vigorously, "Wonder what's wrong with them?"

In her sleep, the corners of Kat's mouth turned up slightly.

------

"Hi James darling!"

Lily raised her eyebrows, _so James' squeeze of the week is Evangeline Thomas eh? Figures, she's been pestering him the whole month._ Lily smiled ruefully.

"Hello Van," James said as they walked hand in hand to the Charms classroom, the rest of the gang trailing behind.

Lily watched them when she suddenly felt a tug at her heart.

She winced.

Her steps slowed.

The pain grew.

She stopped.

"Lily? Are you alright?"

Lily looked up to see Kat frowning. She couldn't talk.

"Lil' what's wrong?" Jo was equally concerned.

Lily shook her head. The pain was getting worse, "I'm fine, let's go, don't let the others worry."

Slowly, they walked to the Charms classroom, Jo and Kat exchanging worried looks all the way. When the finally reached the classroom, Lily grabbed a quill and started copying down notes, looking perfectly natural. Then she looked up and the pain started again. She saw James and Evangeline talking to each other intimately.

_What's wrong with me?_ Lily clenched her teeth and fist. Her quill broke from the pressure.

Jo's head snapped up. She looked worriedly at Lily. Lily shook her head and forced a smile, "I'm okay," she whispered.

Finally, they were dismissed and Jo ordered Lily to go to the infirmary.

"But I'm fine!" Lily protested.

Kat frowned, "Why do you think you're feeling this pain anyway?"

Lily shrugged. Just then, James and Evangeline passed by, "Hey Lil', can't help you with transfiguration today. Got a date with Van."

Lily bit her lip. It came again. The pain. Her heart felt like it was being twisted into knots.

"Lily? You okay?"

No response.

"Lil'?"

Still nothing.

"Lily?"

She collapsed onto the ground.

"Lily!"

Lily had her brows furrowed and fists clenched in pain. She struggled to open her eyes. A blurred vision of James hovering above her, registered into her brain. Then, she slipped into unconsciousness.

------

Lily's eyes snapped open. Her breaths came out quick and short. It was all a bad dream wasn't it? She looked around. The walls of the infirmary stared back at her. _Nope, it wasn't a bad dream. I really did feel the pain. But why?_

"Lily?"

Shocked, Lily's eyes scanned the entire place. She was sure it was empty. Suddenly, James' face popped up in front of her.

"Ahh!"

"Did I scare you?" James asked innocently.

"What do you think?" Lily muttered darkly.

Suddenly, Lily remembered that James had a date with Evangeline that evening, "What are you doing her anyway? Don't you have a date with Evangeline today?" Lily asked, "If it's still today that is, had no idea how long I slept." She added.

James smiled, "Yes, it's still today. I just cancelled my date with Evangeline. She threatened to break up with me but, oh well, anything for your transfiguration grades."

Lily raised her eyebrows but inside, her heart was thumping madly, "Are you saying that my transfiguration grades are more important than your girlfriend?"

"Why, of course!" James looked at Lily's expression, "I'm serious! I even brought the textbooks along!" Saying so, he brought out a whole stack of them.

"James! I'm tired! No transfiguration for me today!"

"Nonsense! You just had 8 hours of rest."

That was it. No questions asked about her pain. Just 2 hours of transfiguration tuition. Lily couldn't help but wonder.

------

"Hey Lil'!"

"JO?! What are _you_ doing here?"

"What? Why that shocked expression?"

Lily blinked, "You're in the library Jo! Did you lose your way or something?"

Jo crossed her arms, "What's wrong with me being in the library? Ever since I entered, people have been whispering non-stop. Even the mean ol' librarian lady!"

"Jo, remember you swore off the library ever since our 1st year?"

Jo stroked her chin, "Oh… the chopstick and egg-yolk incident…"

Lily nodded, "So what are you doing here? And what's with that book?" Lily said, eyeing the book in Jo's hands.

"I'm borrowing it!" Jo stated, a matter-of-factly.

That statement got everyone in the library staring at her, then people started whispering again, "Jo's borrowing a book!", "She finally borrowing something!"

Jo walked down the walkway, towards the librarian. She beamed at Jo and said, as she checked out the book, "I never thought I'd live to see this day."

"Neither did I." Jo replied, smiling.

"What book did you borrow?" Lily asked as they exited the library.

Jo handed the book to Lily.

"Twitch of the…" Lily wiped the dust of the last word, "Heart." Lily blinked, "Twitch of the Heart?"

Jo nodded, "Read it. Figured it had something to do with that pain you keep feeling in your chest."

"Are you sure?" Lily was skeptical.

"Trust me."

Lily's gaze fell onto the book, "If you say so…"

------

"Argh! Get off me, Sirius!"

"There isn't enough space!"

"Why are we doing in the broom closet anyway?"

"So no one would find us! Dummy!"

"Why did you even suggest playing hide and seek?"

"It's the weekend Jo! Lighten up!"

"I don't want to spend my whole weekend in the broom closet, thank you very much."

With that, the closet door was kicked open and both, Sirius and Jo, toppled out.

"Aww… come on Jo!"

Jo shook her head, "Goodbye!"

Sirius sighed. He watched Jo walk towards the quidditch pitch with the sun shinning down on her. He rolled over on his back and blew on his hair, "Messed up again."

Meanwhile, Jo was seated behind one of the quidditch stands, blowing at the dandelions, minding her own business when she heard footsteps. Thinking it was Sirius, she stood up and was about to call him when a voice spoke. Unmistakably, Severus Snape's. She stopped in her tracks. Perhaps she shouldn't go out right now.

"Are you sure we should do this?"

_Snape._

"Of course."

_Who?_

"Are you telling me you want to back out?"

_Has to be an older student. His voice sounds mature._

"No! It's not that!"

_Why does Snape sound so… scared?_

"To achieve great things, one mustn't be indecisive."

_Whoa. What's with the wise words?_

"Yes, Lucius. I'll remember."

_Lucius? Lucius Malfoy?_ Jo stepped back on a rock and lost her balance, "Ahh!"

"Who's there?"

Jo quickly covered her mouth with her hands but it was too late.

"My, my, what do we have here?"

Jo narrowed her eyes. Lucious Malfoy smirked, "You've got spirit. No wonder that obnoxious Gryffindor has his eyes set on you."

Jo blinked, "Wh… What?"

"Suppose he hasn't told you yet," Malfoy shook his head, "Gryffindors always take pride in their courage, I say it's rubbish."

Jo glared at him, "You have no right to say that!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Malfoy moved closer to Jo, "So young, so naïve."

Jo took in a sharp breath._ Stop moving any closer._ She looked around for help. They were the only people there. _Darn._

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Jo turned her head. _Sirius!_

"Ah… the obnoxious Gryffindor to the rescue eh?" Lucius Malfoy winked at Jo, "Must be your knight in shining amour."

Jo stared back, at loss for words. Whether it was because Lucius Malfoy had just winked at her or because the obnoxious Gryffindor he was talking about was actually Sirius, she didn't know.

"Jo! You alright?"

She nodded absentmindedly, thoughts preoccupied on something else.

"Snape, Malfoy, you better had not done anything to her…"

"Sirius, let's just go." Jo said.

"But!"

"It's okay, let's go."

"Fine, you sure you okay?"

Snape turned to the older boy, "Are you letting them off? Just like that?"

Malfoy smirked, not saying anything else. They started walking towards the castle. Then, Malfoy turned back to look at the two Gryffindors walking in the opposite direction. _Wonder when you two will come out of your denial… It's not everyday I help a Gryffindor._

-------

Yay! I'm done! I'll just leave you to ponder upon Lucius Malfoy's. So, you like it? Peter finally came. Didn't make him a sneaky or bad or puny or timid guy. Felt that he should be just a normal teenager like any of them. He'll join Voldermort when he graduates. So, all you have to do now is review! LoL… Please?


	11. Sirius the Candyman

The Early Years

Recap:

"Snape, Malfoy, you better had not done anything to her…"

"Sirius, let's just go." Jo said.

"But!"

"It's okay, let's go."

"Fine, you sure you okay?"

Snape turned to the older boy, "Are you letting them off? Just like that?"

Malfoy smirked, not saying anything else. They started walking towards the castle. Then, Malfoy turned back to look at the two Gryffindors walking in the opposite direction. _Wonder when you two will come out of your denial… It's not everyday I help a Gryffindor._

------

"Where's Lily?"

Kat looked over at James, "She was complaining about a headache or something. Said she'll be down later."

James looked down at his plate and frowned.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine." Remus said, patting James' shoulders.

"I hope you're right."

"Look! There she is!"

Sure enough, Lily had entered the great hall. Quickly, James was over by her side, "You feeling ok?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Lily smiled sadly. _Please stop it._

"Hey Lil', finished reading the book yet?" Jo asked.

"Wh.. What?" Lily snapped out of her reverie.

"What book?" James asked, curious.

"Nothing!" Lily said quickly.

James frowned, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, really." Lily was avoiding the question.

Jo shook her head. _Still in denial._

"So any plans today everyone?" Remus asked.

"Lover boy her does. Got a date today eh?" Sirius said, elbowing James.

James choked on his pancake and quickly looked up at Lily. He did not intend for her to know. But then again, why? (A/N Lol, I'll leave you to figure that out.)

Lily in turn, quickly looked down, tears threatening to fall. _Out of reach._

------

The Hogwarts castle reflected on the moonlit lake. The beautiful image disappeared when a pebble was thrown into the lake, causing some ripples. Lily stood at the edge of the lake, holding a book.

_Why me?_

Lily looked up at the moon.

_Why him?_

She collapsed onto the soft grass.

_Why this?_

A soft breeze blew and pages of the book was flipped open.

**Twitch of the Heart**

Summarised, this twitch only happens to one couple every century. It bonds a couple. The twitch may only happen in one person or in both. When the couple is bonded, they can feel each others emotions and know when the other in is in trouble. However, this doesn't mean the couple would end up together. Should the relationship fail, the twitch would forever be imbedded there and cause immense pain.

------

"Sirius!" Jo placed her hands on her hip.

Sirius Black was presently trying to break into the candy shop and the Hogsmeade train station using a crowbar. Like a guilty child who was caught in the act of stealing cookies, Sirius placed the crowbar behind him and walked over to Jo, his head hanging.

"Give." Jo stretched out her hands and said in a mock serious tone.

Sirius placed the crowbar onto Jo's palm.

"Now explain."

"I was hungry… and the candy shop was closed!"

_Ah. That explains everything. _Jo smiled and dangled a chocolate frog in front of Sirius.

Sirius face lit up and he quickly tried to grab it but Jo held it away from him.

Jo shook her head, "No chocolate frog unless you promise to be good during the whole train ride."

Sirius nodded vigorously, not taking his eyes off the chocolate frog. Jo handed it over to him and watched as he gobbled it down.

_Sirius is so easy to please._

------

The gang were on the way back for the summer holidays. It seemed like only yesterday they started their 4th year.

"Well then," Sirius said as he got onto the Hogwarts Express, "Anyone going anywhere in the holidays?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"It's settled, party at James' house!"

------

"Mum, dad, my friends are coming over today."

"Ok James."

James sighed. _I predict havoc._

Suddenly Mr. Potter's head snapped up, "Say James, who is coming over?"

James shrugged, "The usual people."

"Hmm… does the usual people include a certain Lily?"

James eyes widened and he refused to answer his father's question.

"Aha! Lily's coming over, Lily's coming over!" Mr Potter said, doing a victory dance around James.

"Dad, would you please act your age?"

"You're just trying to change the subject," Mr Potter stuck his tongue out at James, "I'm behaving perfectly mature."

Just then, a car pulled up outside the Potter's residence.

"Ooh! Lily's here!" Mr. Potter shouted enthusiastically as he rushed for the door.

"Oh no you don't!" James said rushing after his father.

Mr. Potter opened the door but his face fell. On their doorstep was Sirius.

Noticing Mr. Potter and James' disappointed looks, Sirius grew indignant, "Well, I'm sorry I'm not the candyman!"

James rolled his eyes, "It's not that Sirius…"

"Not what?"

"Not that you're not the candyman. It's cos you're not Lil..mapadply"

James hurriedly covered his father's mouth, "Heh, nothing."

"No point hiding it any longer son."

"I'm not hiding anything."

The doorbell rang but neither father nor son had any intention to move. Sirius sighed, "I'll get it."

James and his father were still squabbling and completely ignored Sirius until, "Lily!"

Both rushed to the door to find… Remus?!

They looked at Sirius who was grinning sheepishly, "Heh, I just wanted to liven things up a little."

Remus looked bewildered and then complained he was hungry.

The four of them made their way to the kitchen and were making themselves some omelette.

"So how come Sirius called me Lily?" Remus asked suddenly.

"Oh.. nothing!" James replied, almost too quickly.

"Ok…" Remus said, eyebrows raised. He looked over at Sirius and Mr. Potter, hoping to know what was going on but the two seemed to be in a heated discussion over James' love life.

Suddenly, James interrupted, "Excuse me, but if you don't mind, can you two stop discussing my love life? At least, not in front of me?"

"Oh but we do mind." Sirius replied wisely.

"Yeah son, it's rude to interrupt." Mr Potter chimed in before he started to discuss with Sirius if James was really in love with Lily or not.

"Of course he is… Can't you see his look of longing when Lily isn't around?" Remus had decided to join in the discussion, leaving James alone to contemplate whether he had done Sirius, Remus and his father a great wrong in his past life.

"Ahem. Anyone home?"

This statement caused James to spit out his omelette, Sirius to start cracking up over James' predicament, Remus to stop himself from laughing at James and Mr. Potter to stand there looking confused.

Mr. Potter spoke first, "Who are you?"

"Uh…" the girl in James' living room shifted uncomfortably, "Lily. Lily Evans. Nice to meet you, Mr Potter? I presume?"

A look of realisation dawned upon Mr. Potter, "Oh… Lily! I've heard so much about you! Welcome, do make yourself comfortable. Here, let me carry your bags. James, stop standing there gaping, show Lily to her room." Mr Potter paused and winked at Lily, "Which is just next to your room. I suppose you remember son?"

James red in the face could only nod.

------

There! I did it! I updated! Woohoo! Haha. So be a dear and review. Please?


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